Why Grace Changes Everythingby Chuck Smith

Introduction: A Love Relationship with God1. Forgiven!2. The Door is Never Closed3. No Favorites in the Kingdom4. A Portrait of Grace5. One Step at a Time6. A Garden, Not a Factory7. Believing for the Blessings8. The Struggle Begins9. Free Indeed!10. Won't They Go Wild?11. Booby Traps and Land Mines12. All or Nothing13. Members of Royalty14. Our Sole Responsibility

Introduction: A Love Relationship with God

Have you ever pondered the significance of the simple phrase, "God loves you"?It may embody the most important truth anyone can grasp: that God has calledus into a loving relationship with Himself. Our part is simply to trust and believein the deep care and compassion God freely extends to us.

How beautiful it is to experience the freedom and joy of a love relationship withGod! Yet how sad it is that there are so many who insist on relating to God in alegalistic way. Their righteousness is based on what they can do for the Lordinstead of on what He has already done for them. They carry around a huge listof "do's and don'ts" to keep them bound to God.

I am no stranger to that depressing kind of negative righteousness. As I wasgrowing up, I considered myself one of the most godly kids on the block becauseof what I didn't do. I didn't smoke. I didn't dance. I didnít go to shows. I wastaught that such things were utterly sinful. So not only did I avoid those things, Ialso believed I was far more righteous than my weaker friends who indulged inthem. I thought I was much more holy than the preacher's kid, who was knownto pick up old cigarette butts and smoke them on the sly. I was above all that,and I was sure God noticed.

Still, I had a big problem. Although I didn't go to shows, I longed to see SnowWhite, so I felt condemned. I would get saved again every Sunday night andwould promise God that next week was going to be different. I was lucky if myrelationship with Him made it past breakfast Monday morning.

Because my righteousness was a matter of willpower and effort, before long myrelationship with God became a tremendous strain. Every summer I wouldattend our church youth camp. On the last evening we would build a hugebonfire and gather around to sing worship choruses such as "I Surrender All" and

"I Will Follow Thee, My Lord." During this emotionally charged time we wereasked to write out on paper either an area of our lives that we wanted God tochange or a commitment we wanted to make. Each of us would then take a pinecone, wedge our commitment paper into it, and toss it in the fire. As I watchedmy pine cone burn, tears would run down my cheeks. I would tell God that Iwanted my life to be consumed by His love and that I wanted to give myselfcompletely over to serving Him.

As we left the bonfire we were directed to a little table where camp leaders hadlaid out a stack of cards that read, "I promise, by the grace of God, that in thecoming year I will never enter a theater, I will never smoke a cigarette, I willnever drink an alcoholic beverage, I will never use foul language, and I will notattend any dances." We would sign these commitment cards and carry themaround with us in our wallets all year long.

I was careful to keep all my commitments - but I also ended up in a draining,legalistic relationship with God. I had very little joy in my walk with Christbecause I was tied to God by a contract. I couldn't break my agreement; hadn't Isigned and dated it, and didn't I carry it around with me in my back pocket? No,I was committed to keeping this agreement and I fiercely believed that Godowed me something for my efforts. God had to be good to me... at least, betterto me than He was to those who didn't follow through on their commitments.

Imagine my shock, then, when my friends who weren't nearly as righteous as Iwon the contest where we tried to guess the number of jelly beans in the jar! Iwould grow angry and ask, "God, why didn't You bless me? You know I deserveto win more than they do." The more I thought about it, the more confused Ibecame. Here I was keeping my end of the bargain, yet God seemed to pay noattention at all. I constantly felt let down.

Every once in a while, of course, I would get honest with myself and begin to seethat I wasn't nearly as righteous as I liked to think. I knew that my attitudefrequently was not what it should have been. There were moments when I knewI had thoroughly fallen short of God's will for my life. I recall a time in highschool when I snuck into a show. For six months afterwards I lived in uttercondemnation because I had broken my commitment. Often I would give up onthe idea that God would ever see fit to bless me. There were a lot of things Iwanted to pray for, but what right did I have to ask Him for anything when I hadfailed Him so miserably?

This heavy burden of works-righteousness carried over into my early ministryyears in Tucson, Arizona. It didn't take long for me to realize that there had tobe more to ministry than what I was experiencing, more to a relationship withGod than what I enjoyed. To make matters worse, I would watch the meetingsof some of the major evangelists of the day as they passed through the state,and see tents jammed with people being saved and others experiencing whatseemed to be miraculous healings.

I longed to see that kind of power evident in my own life and ministry. ThereforeI began earnestly to seek God with fasting and prayer out in the Tucson desert. I

would take off alone to wait on the Lord with only a jug of water, a Bible, and anotebook for company. I begged God for His blessing, His power, and Hisanointing on my life. After a round of such spiritual discipline, I would work up asense of excitement, believing that God was about to bless our church because Ihad fasted and prayed. I could hardly wait for the next service to see what Godwas going to do.

Unfortunately, I grew so weak from fasting that by Sunday I could hardly standup behind the pulpit. My mind would wander so much that I could barely presenta coherent message. The people would fall asleep and I would feel devastated.Here I had expected a tremendous move of God... and instead, a chorus ofsnoring broke out. I would get frustrated and angry and think, But God, haven'tYou seen how I have fasted and prayed? Surely You ought to bless this church -and me too, while You're at it!

I did not understand at the time that my fasting and praying were attempts toobligate God, to force Him to do what I wanted. I thought if people could justsee miracles like those described in the book of Acts, they would be convincedabout the reality of Jesus Christ.

But later I discovered that the ultimate witness we can offer the world is the lovewe have for one another, a love that flows from the very heart of God Himself.Conforming to rules and regulations simply can't produce that kind of loverelationship. We can try to impose the law on our relationships, but God's love isthe only way to gain the stability and security we long for. The Bible tells us thatlove is the fulfillment of the law. In fact, when asked which was the greatestcommandment, Jesus replied that it was to love the Lord with all our heart,mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself. Love, not the law,is the key to our relationship with God and with one another.

God wants us to experience the beauty of being drawn to Him by a cord farstronger than the obligation and guilt of the law. If we were still bound to God bya list of rules and regulations, we would soon find ourselves chomping at the bitand struggling against the restraints. There is a huge difference between beingbound in relationship by the joy of love, and being tied up in obligation and guilt.

God never intended that His people be bound by an endless list of externalpressures. It isn't pleasing to God to hear us moan and complain, "What a drag!I have to go to church again when there are a hundred other things I'd ratherdo. But if I don't go, God won't love me anymore and the preacher will give methe evil eye for missing his sermon."

If we find ourselves laboring under such burdensome attitudes, it is a sureindicator that we are not operating in a love relationship with God, but haveinstead fallen into legalism. God certainly wants better things for us than a drab,loveless existence!

God never made out a long contract that says, 'Abide by all my terms and I willlove you and bless you; but if you violate even the smallest provision, it's all nulland void and you are out of My kingdom!" Christians are not bound by any

heavy contract to God. Paul declared that the only thing that constrained himwas the love of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 5:14).

It took years of God's patient work in my life before I was able to break free ofthe bondage of self-righteousness. For years I had heard of others getting atremendous blessing out of the book of Romans. Since I was always looking for ablessing, I finally decided to dig into it. And yet, try as I might, it was difficult forme to relate to. I decided to persevere anyway and see if I could discover what itwas that others found so compelling.

One day as I studied this great book, God did nothing less than revolutionize myrelationship with Him. It was there that He revealed to me the meaning of thatsimple, well-worn, but rarely understood word: grace. From that time onward Iencountered such a free and loving relationship with God that I could not havecared less if I ever saw a spectacular miracle in my ministry. I discovered thateven though I was prone to stumble and fall, my mistakes didn't alienate mefrom God. My relationship with Christ became less a roller coaster of highs andlows and more of a steady ride in His wonderful love.

Imagine how I felt when I discovered the profound truth, "If God is for us, whocan be against us?" (Romans 8:31). For years I had labored under themisconception that God was against me. I pictured Him waiting for me to stepout of line so He could send fiery judgment crashing down on me. I finallyunderstood that God wanted me to enjoy the peace of His unconditional love, notthe fear that always accompanies legalism. I began to relate to God in a wholenew way.

I learned that the law was intended to serve as a protective guide to God'speople. Its restraints were to function like a parent's safety guidelines, intendedonly for the welfare of a child. Once we discover the wonder of God's grace, weneed no longer be locked in by the law. We can approach life freely because welove God and won't want to do anything to harm the loving relationship we havewith Him. When we know the joy of fellowship with God, we won't want anybarriers, any blocks, to come between us.

In fact, the more we experience of God's love, the more He Himself becomes theprimary desire and focus of our life. The coercive aspects of the law becomeunnecessary. We find ourselves longing to please God simply because we loveHim.

And that is the greatest joy in life - to experience a genuine love relationshipwith God. To know that He is for us, that He loves us, is the greatest source ofsecurity any person will ever know. Discovering the glorious grace of God wasone of the most important events in my whole spiritual experience. I learned torelate to God on an entirely new basis: not on the basis of my works, or of myrighteousness, but on the basis of God's love for me through Jesus Christ.

That is grace, and that is what makes life worth living. In fact, it is what makeslife - real life, abundant life, fulfilling and satisfying life - possible at all. For whenour eyes are opened to the astonishing truth that our relationship with God does

not depend upon the puny pebble of our own efforts but upon the massive rockof His unchanging and loving character, life opens before us in a technicolorexplosion of awesome possibilities.

Grace transforms desolate and bleak plains into rich, green pastures. It changesgrit-your-teeth duty into loving, enthusiastic service. It exchanges the tears andguilt of our own failed efforts for the eternal thrill and laughter of freely offeredpleasures at the right hand of God. Grace changes everything!

Have you discovered the deep joy of living in God's grace? Would you welcome areminder that our standing with God depends not on our own weak efforts but onwhat His almighty arm has accomplished for us? Wherever you are in yourspiritual journey, I invite you now to take a few moments to consider with methe amazing grace of God poured out on our behalf.

For it's true, you know: Grace changes everything!

1. Forgiven!

One evening I heard a speech by former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger.He told the gathering that his first mistake is mentioned in his autobiography onpage 1159. He also noted it was his last mistake.

If I were to write an autobiography, my first mistake would probably be found inthe prologue to the book, if not in the table of contents itself! There is no way Iwould ever try to stand before God on the basis of my own goodness. It's notthat I am some rotten, morally depraved individual; it's just that I am nowherenear good enough to be acceptable before an absolutely holy God.

A Dead-End Righteousness

One very common way of trying to become righteous is to define whatrighteousness is and isn't, to set up a code, and then live according to this code.There's only one problem: No one ever lives up to their own code, so we conjureup a great number of excuses to explain why we fail. The most common is thatour failure isn't really our fault.

If I drop a glass and break it, it isn't that I am uncoordinated; it's becausesomeone called me when he shouldn't have. Others were making too much noisein the other room, so my mistake is really their fault. "Look what you caused meto do!" I say. "You made me do it, so it isn't my fault." None of us like to acceptblame.

This attitude goes all the way back to Adam. He blamed his failure on Eve. "Thewoman that you gave to be my wife," he told God, "it's her fault that I am theway I am" (see Genesis 3:12). Proverbs declares, "There is a generation that arepure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Proverbs30:12).

If you think you are a very pure person and yet are not washed from yourfilthiness, righteousness has evaded you. The Bible says, "If we say that we haveno sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us... If we say that we havenot sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us" (I John 1:8,10).Scripture states our problem clearly: "All the world [stands] guilty before God...all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:19,23).

Whenever we try to establish our righteousness by keeping rules, eventually weare forced to admit we operate on a sliding scale. I will always look morallybetter to myself than I do to you, and you will always look morally worse to methan you do to yourself. I can look at your life and see all kinds of flaws; butwhen I look at myself, the few flaws I notice don't seem so bad.

Even the righteousness I can achieve by what I do is only a sham righteousness.The Bible declares, "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnessesare as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).

If our relationship with God depended upon being righteous and good, we wouldnever make it.

It's almost comical to see some people parade around in their rags. They saunteraround with their "holier than thou," gaudy kind of religiosity, with ahyperspiritual air about them. They talk in whispered tones because they think itsounds holy and righteous. They use King James English because, as we allknow, "Thees" and "Thous" are far more righteous than "yous" and "yours." Wesee them puffed out in their righteousness, strutting around, showing off... andGod shakes His head and says, "Filthy rags."

If my relationship with God depended upon my being righteous and good, Iwould never make it. I have failed. I have come short of the glory of God. Thebest that I can manage is when I am having a good day, my biorhythms areright, and everything is going well - really flowing. I'm cool. Man, I am reallysomething. But even on my best days God looks down and says, "Filthy rags."My best efforts simply aren't enough.

Trying to keep the law condemns me, for the true law deals with inwardattitudes. Back when I labored under this standard of self-righteousness, I foundI resented certain things other people were doing. I became bitter. I realizedthat I hated certain people and that I was jealous and covetous of the thingsthey owned. I noticed I had violated my own code and had wiped out myrelationship with God. Nothing was left to do but to start all over again.

Unfortunately, just about the time I would feel as though I were restoring a rightrelationship with God, something happened. I blew up and down I went again. Iwould be forced to start climbing the ladder of good works once more until I gotto the rung where I finally felt I could relate to God. No sooner would I reachthat rung, however, than somebody would pull a stupid move on the freewayand I would yell, "Where did you get your driver's license, you idiot?" And thewhole process would start all over again.

What's the Standard?

Those who believe that they can be made acceptable to God without Jesus needto deal with some crucial questions. If they believe they can make it to heavenby achieving a certain level of goodness, what standard do they have to live upto? What will God require of them? So many say, "I feel that I am basically akind and good person and am willing to stand before God on my own merit."

But these people fail to take into account that God's standards are different thanours. Jesus showed us God's requirement for those who would strive for heavenon their own power when He said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Fatherwhich is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). The standard for the person whowants to be right with God is nothing short of absolute perfection - not justtrying hard, or being sincere, but a flawless keeping of all God ever intended forman. Clearly, those who believe they can earn eternal life by their good workshave a distorted understanding of the holiness of God and what it means to beright with God.

If we are going to set up a standard of righteous conduct, we need to use theone established by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only person whose life promptedGod to say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew3:17). To enjoy fellowship with God, we must be as righteous as Jesus. In John16:8,10 Jesus said, 'And when he [that is, the Holy Spirit] is come, he willreprove the world of... righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see meno more." Jesus' ascension into heaven was God's witness to the world about HisSon. It is as if He were saying, "This is the righteousness that I will accept inheaven." Jesus' life is the only standard of righteousness. If I want to beaccepted by God, I must be as righteous as Jesus Christ. The Scriptures showthat there is only one kind of righteousness that God will accept: the veryrighteousness of Christ Himself. So, if we want to stand before God on the basisof our own good works, we must live a life that measures up to the goodness wesee in Jesus.

But I realize that is impossible. I can't achieve that kind of righteousness. JesusHimself said, "I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust afterher hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). Hesaid, "I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a causeshall be in danger of the judgment" (Matthew 5:22). He further said, "Love yourenemies, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and prayfor them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the onecheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to takethy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that takethaway thy goods ask them not again" (Luke 6:27-30). And He commanded us to"love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again!' (Luke6:35).

How can anybody be that righteous? I know I can't. I've failed miserably. Doesthat mean, then, that I must forever be alienated from God? Is there no way I

can ever enjoy fellowship with God? Do I have to go on in this emptiness, in thisfrustration, seeking after and reaching out for something I can never obtain?

If there is any hope for us to be forgiven by God, there must be another basis forit other than our works. As Paul declares, "By the deeds of the law there shall noflesh be justified in his sight" (Romans 3:20).

If we are ever to enjoy fellowship with God, it will have to be on some basisother than our own righteousness. The rules that God has established forrighteousness are far too stringent for us to abide by. We can't do it. Our onlyhope is that another form of righteousness has been provided for us, arighteousness based on a totally different principle than our own works.

Thank God, there is such a principle! It's called grace.

What Is Grace?

The root meaning of the word grace is "beauty." In the New Testament, gracemeans "God's unmerited favor." Grace is God giving to me something that Icannot obtain on my own. Grace is being accepted by God even though I do notdeserve it, even though I am not worthy of it.

The Bible teaches that I receive grace on the basis of my belief and trust in God.Hebrews 11:6 declares that without faith it is impossible to please God. We areforgiven by a holy God simply by believing in Jesus Christ and in His death onour behalf. When we place our trust in Him, our slate is wiped clean.

It is not possible for us to be forgiven by complying with any law or religioussystem. It was necessary that Christ go to the cross in order that He mightestablish the basis whereby I can approach God.

When Jesus was praying in the garden, He said, "Father, if thou be willing,remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke22:42). He was saying, "If it is possible that men can be saved by any othermeans than My death - if they can be saved by being religious, by somehowgaining their own righteousness - then I do not want to go to the cross. Pleasedon't put Me through this horrible ordeal." But it was not possible, and so Hewent to the cross, died, was buried, and rose again. His death made it possiblefor God to extend His grace to you and me.

Perhaps an illustration will help to make this clear. Imagine that you werecharged with a crime. You are accused of trespassing on a neighbor's property.As any defense attorney knows, there are two possible ways for you to becleared of the charge. You may seek to prove that you didn't trespass on hisproperty, or you may seek to prove that you had every right to be there.

Now apply this logic to our spiritual situation. God has charged us with beingsinners - for rebelling against His law and His will. He has charged us withunrighteousness.

How can we be justified from those charges? We can't say that we are innocent,for we are guilty. All of us have sinned. Nor can we say that we had a right to dowhat we did because we had no such right. Our actions were clearly wrong. How,then, can the law be of value to us in our desire to be forgiven? The answer is, itcan't. The case is open and shut. We didn't have a right to do it, we did itanyway, and thus we stand guilty.

The Great Bank Robbery

Let's change the illustration. Suppose that I robbed a bank willfully anddeliberately. The law condemns me because I can't say I didn't do it or provethat I didn't do it. The video camera caught me. I can't say I had a right to do itbecause robbery is not included in the First Amendment. Therefore, there is noway I can be forgiven within the law.

During the trial, I might try to say, "I promise I won't rob any more banks aslong as I live. I will live a good, clean life from now on. I will never take anythingfrom anybody wrongfully again." That still doesn't justify me from what I havealready done. I might try to say that I should be forgiven because I did so muchgood with the money. I gave some to the church and I fed my family. But my"righteous" deeds cannot counterbalance or absolve my guilt.

The judge may order that I pay back to the bank all the money that I took. Aspart of my sentence, he may order me to pick up tin cans along the freeway tohelp keep America beautiful. I may spend the rest of my life doing good things,but still I will not be absolved of what I have done. All the works of the lawcannot erase my guilt. My past wrongdoings still exist. I am a robber and theverdict is clear.

Why is it, then, that in spiritual matters so many people seek to plead innocentbefore God by virtue of all their good works?

There are many of us who respond to our sin, guilt, and unrighteousness withregret and new resolutions. We want to make amends and turn over a new leaf.But those efforts can't win our forgiveness. Even our best efforts cannot takeaway the guilt of what we have already done. We can never be justified by goodworks. Even a whole life of good works cannot atone for a single sin.

God's basis of forgiveness is the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. All of ourguilt - all of our past and future wrongdoings - have been laid to the charge ofJesus Christ, the innocent Lamb, the perfect one who knew no sin. He died forus. He bore our guilt; He suffered and died for our sins. Paul wrote, "For He hathmade him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made therighteousness of God in him" (II Corinthians 5:21). Jesus became sin for us thatwe might be pardoned through Him. In other words, He switched places with us."Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through hispoverty might be rich" (II Corinthians 8:9). He has taken our sin and forgiven usthrough our simple faith and trust in Him.

Jesus, Our Hope

When God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, Christ received the judgment dueus for our sins. He received our deserved punishment, which the Bible declares isdeath (see Romans 6:23). God has declared that if we will believe in Jesus Christas our Lord and Savior, we will be forgiven of every wrong thing we have everdone. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin," says I John1:7. This cleansing is something the law could never do; it is a provision ofgrace.

We can strive to make it to heaven on our own efforts or we can place our faithin Jesus.

The fact is, faith is our only hope. Our good deeds or efforts or works can neverearn us forgiveness from God. Paul declared in strong words, "But to him thatworketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is countedfor righteousness" (Romans 4:5). To him who is not working, but simplybelieving, God imputes righteousness. God gives us this forgiveness because ofour faith in the finished work that Jesus Christ has done for us.

The Choice Is Yours

You have a choice. You can strive to make it to heaven by your own efforts andtry to be as good as Christ, or you can place your faith in Jesus and receive yourright standing with God as a gift of His grace.

For me, this is no choice at all. I know there is no way that I, in my good works,would ever make it to heaven. I stand hopelessly condemned on the basis of mypast sin. I have no chance of being received by God apart from His mercy.

The good news is, God has provided a way of acceptance before Him. God, whois absolutely holy and pure and so righteous that no sin can dwell in Hispresence, has made a way for people like us to have fellowship with Him. Whenwe believe in this sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us - even though we didn'tdeserve it - the Father grants us perfect forgiveness.

That's the gospel of grace. Each one of us can relate to God, even though we arefar from perfect. We can still have a beautiful relationship with God through HisSon Jesus Christ.

When we relate to the Father by faith through His Son, we have a solidrelationship. We are now sons of God. Because He is our Father, we don't haveto wonder if we are worthy to come to Him. We do not come on the basis of ourworthiness, but on the basis of our relationship with Him.

That is what the gospel of grace is all about. God looks at us as though we nevercommitted a single trespass against Him. Now, I have trouble looking at myselflike that. I look at myself in the mirror and say, "Chuck, you are a sinner. Youcan't control your appetite; you have so many flaws." And yet God looks at meand says, "Forgiven." He loves me and accepts me as I am because I am inJesus Christ. Even as He has accepted His own Son, so now He accepts me. Paul

tells us that we have been accepted "in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6). TheBeloved one is Christ; and you, being in Christ, are accepted by God just asChrist is accepted.

That is why the gospel of grace is the best news I have ever heard. God forgivesus because we believe in His Son, whom He sent to die for our sins. All our sinshave been blotted out. There is no accounting of guilt. As Paul tells us, "Oh, howhappy are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Oh,how happy is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin" (see Romans4:7,8).

As sons of God, we have every right to come to our Father to ask Him foranything that we might need. We have every right to trust the wisdom of ourFather to either grant or deny the request, according to His knowledge of what isbest for us. We can commit ourselves to our heavenly Father, who loves us sovery much. He will give us only what is best.

What a joy it is to know that God desires to bestow upon us the richness and thefullness of His love - not because we deserve it, but because He loves us. This isthe gospel of grace in Jesus Christ!

2. The Door is Never Closed

As wonderful as it is, forgiveness is only half the story of the gospel of grace.There are many people who believe God has forgiven us in Christ. Where theyhave trouble is the second half of the good news: That just by believing in JesusChrist, God accounts us righteous.

Not everybody believes that - not by a long shot. Various groups haveestablished standards of righteousness, yet they seldom agree upon what thosestandards should be.

Is Gold In or Out?

Not so very long ago, some groups taught that it was unrighteous to wearbuttons. They used hooks and eyes for their garments and wouldn't think ofwearing buttons on anything. "You wear buttons?" they'd say. "How unrighteouscan you be? Shame!" Even today there are groups who teach that wearing goldis utterly sinful; you cannot possibly be righteous if you wear gold. Throughouthistory people have established varying standards of righteousness - always withthe idea that if they adhered to this particular standard, God would accept them.

There is, however, a real problem with trying to establish a righteousness bylaws or by works. The fact is, we rarely live up even to our own standards!

Each of us accepts a moral standard that we consider good and right. This iswhat I really am, or at least what I would be were it not for outside hindrances.Psychologists call it our "superego," our ideal self. Unfortunately, no one knows

the "real me." Why? Because the "real me" is perfect. In fact, I don't even knowthe real me because circumstances constantly keep me from being as wonderfulas I really am.

Along with the superego, psychologists talk about the "ego," which is the realself, the true you. Sadly, the true you is never up to the standards of the idealyou.

Now, if there is a vast difference between your superego and your ego, you'reconsidered a maladjusted person. On the other hand, if you know you're notperfect and you don't have such a high standard for the ideal you, then you arecongratulated as a well-adjusted person.

Psychologists often seek to bring down the standards of a person's superego bytelling the patient he has set impractical goals. "Nobody is that perfect; nobodyis that good," they will say. "What you are doing isn't so abnormal. Everybodydoes it. You shouldn't be trying to set such high standards for yourself!" Thesetherapists are constantly trying to narrow the difference between the superegoand the ego so that we might enjoy more well-balanced lives. They seek a cureby bringing down the superego.

Contrast that with the work of Jesus. He doesn't try to lower the superego; Heaims to bring up the ego. He wants to lift up the real you!

Even though the real me is well below the ideal me, nevertheless I am righteousbefore God and He looks at me as perfectly righteous because of my faith inJesus Christ.

This is the second aspect of the gospel of grace. First, all of your sins have beentaken care of, washed, and forgiven because of your faith in Jesus Christ.Second, God looks at you as righteous because of your believing in Jesus Christ.Apart from what you are doing or not doing, apart from keeping any code ofethics, God is imputing righteousness to your account because you believe uponJesus Christ.

This is the glorious gospel, the good news. To know that God accepts me by myfaith in Jesus Christ and that my righteousness is through faith in Jesus Christ isgood news indeed!

The Door Is Open

Why is it such good news? I never need to fear and say, "Oh, I dare not go toGod, because I just told a lie. I just lost my temper. I just deceived that person.Oh, I have no right to ask God to help me now because I failed in that task." Ifmy righteousness comes by my works, then Satan can bar the door to Godpractically all the time, because I am never doing as much as I feel I should. Iam never as good as I know I ought to be. I haven't achieved my super-ego. Ihaven't lived up to my own standards of what I feel is right. Because I havefailed to achieve those ideal standards, Satan will use my failure to keep mefrom coming to God. "You have no right to ask God to help you when you have

just failed Him again. You know your action is displeasing to God, yet you did itanyhow. Now you're in trouble and now you want God to help you. You think Heis going to listen to you? No way!"

Satan can always bar the door to God if he can cause me to look within myselfand at myself. But if I am looking to Jesus Christ and I realize that I amaccounted righteous because of my faith in Christ, Satan can never bar the door.

Oh, he still comes to me and says, "Chuck, you are a rotten wretch. You have noright to stand up in front of people and proclaim the glorious good news of JesusChrist. You have no right to stand up there and teach the Word of God. You havefailed in this area and you have failed in that area. You are a mess!"

I always start to smile whenever this happens, because I'm sure I have gottenby with a few things I know there are a few things he hasn't even brought up! Isay to him, "Satan, you don't scare me with your accusations; you are not goingto cause me to run off and hide someplace. In fact, I know that what you say istrue. I know that I have failed. I know that I have a weakness. But you don'tdrive me from Jesus Christ; you are driving me to Him, because my only hope isthe cross of Jesus Christ!"

And so I flee to the only place where I am safe, the only place where I have anyhope at all. Surely I have no hope in my own self and in my own righteousness.But I have great hope in the work that Jesus Christ did for me and in the workGod is doing in me by the power of His Holy Spirit as He is conforming me intothe image of Christ.

Those things that I cannot do for myself, He is doing for me. Those areas whereI was so weak, He has made me strong. I have recognized my weakness and Ihave cast myself helplessly upon Him. In those areas where I was once weakand constantly stumbling, now I stand strong because His strength has beenmade perfect in my weakness (see II Corinthians 12:9).

Certainly, I am not yet all that God wants me to be. Far from it! But thank God, Iam not what I was. Even in my present state of imperfection, God looks upon meand accounts me righteous and holy. That is why I never want to be caughtanywhere except in Christ Jesus. We must never see ourselves apart from Him.

No Degrees of Righteousness

If God has imputed the righteousness of Christ to us because we have believed,then it is folly for us to try to improve on that righteousness by doing works. Wecan't improve on God's righteousness. There is no way we can improve on theright standing that He has imputed to us. We are righteous. That is God'saccounting of our life because we believe and trust in the work of Jesus Christ.

Our righteousness now and for eternity is a result of our simple faith in God'sSon, Jesus.

No one in heaven will be boasting about how righteous they made themselves.We will not have to listen to Abraham or David or Paul go on and on about all thewonderful things they did to achieve a righteous standing before God. Thesemen simply believed God, and their faith was accounted to them forrighteousness.

None of us will stand in heaven comparing good works with one another becausethere will only be one who will receive glory before the throne of God. There willbe only one shining star. There won't be some kind of spiritual caste systemwhere some will bask in the glory of their works while others of us will stand inthe corner wondering how we made it there at all. Jesus and Jesus alone willreceive the glory for our salvation. lf it were not for Him, none of us would bethere.

As Paul put it, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord JesusChrist" (Galatians 6:14). No matter how many good deeds we've done for Him,no matter how many people we lead to Him or how many churches we establishfor Him, our only glory is in Jesus Christ, who died for us. Our righteousness isnot a question of good works, human efforts, or in keeping certain rituals ordietary laws. Our righteousness - both here and now and for all eternity - is aresult of our simple faith in God's Son, Jesus.

Righteousness by faith removes all distinctions between those who belong toChrist. I am no better than you, or you than me. We are all sinners, saved onlyby God's glorious grace. There is no other way to right standing before God.There is only one kind of righteousness that God will accept, and that is theimputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

If I am seeking to relate to God on the basis of my own righteousness or my ownworks, or if I expect to be blessed because I have been on good behavior thisweek or I have read so many chapters or prayed so much, then my relationshipwith God is always going to be tenuous. Sometimes I will feel that myrelationship with God is good and at other times I will feel that it is bad. Why?Because I am trying to relate to Him on the basis of my righteousness.

Without grace, my relationship with God is never an established reality and it isimpossible to enjoy peace. If my relationship with God were dependent on how Ifelt or how I was living or on my own righteousness, I would not be able torelate to God most of the time.

When my relationship with God is predicated upon God's grace toward me,however, the door of blessing is never closed. God's blessings are bestowed onthe basis of His grace, His unmerited favor. I never deserve or earn a blessing.The blessings that come into my life are always predicated upon God's unmeritedfavor to me. God loves me so much, He blesses me anyway. God is so good! Thetruest praise is that which rises spontaneously from our hearts as we recognizeGod's marvelous grace toward us.

A Stubborn Tendency

We find it very difficult to get away from the concept that our righteousness issomehow related to the works we do for God. We tend to consider somebelievers as more holy than others because of their performance. We can evenfind ourselves using this standard to judge others. If someone isn't doing thesame degree of works or isn't as zealous as we are, then surely this person justisn't as righteous as we are.

It is extremely difficult to remove this idea of righteousness by works from ourthinking. Because this notion is so deeply ingrained, many of us face a constantstruggle with guilt feelings. Even as Christians we can find ourselves getting setup for damaging guilt episodes. Because we love God we want to adopt personalstandards of conduct in keeping with our identity as children of God. Now thatChrist dwells within me, I want to manifest His love, which is patient, long-suffering, kind, gentle, and merciful.

And yet how fragile that love in my life can be! I can be driving along on thefreeway when a driver in front of me makes a stupid move and endangers mylife. Instantly, feelings of anger come rushing into my mind. I want to lay on myhorn and ride his bumper and show that idiot how I really feel about his driving.But then, after doing all these mean things, I remember that my license platesays, "CALVARY." At that moment, all my old, familiar guilt feelings pour into myheart. Accusing thoughts like, What a great witness you are! flood my mind andleave me feeling totally unrighteous. I've blown it again, failing God once more,and I'm left with a sense of total alienation from Him.

Trying to relate to God on the basis of effort and works is always a struggle. Wecan't know the peace Of God until we experience the grace of God.

What's difficult to grasp is that although my behavior is wrong, it has nothing todo with my right standing with God. It is so hard to disassociate the concept ofworks and law from the idea of righteousness! My conduct and my standingbefore God seem to be inseparably related, and yet they are totally unrelated.

The truth is that God Himself has imputed right standing to me simply because Ibelieve in His Son, Jesus Christ. If keeping a list of rules such as "never getangry when driving" or "never lose your temper with your children" could havebrought us into a right relationship with God, then my conduct and my standingwith God would be related. But there are no rules that give life, because sin hasbrought alienation and death. In order for us to have life, God had to establish aNew Covenant based on better promises than works-righteousness. That NewCovenant is the gospel of grace.

Grace and Peace

Maybe you have been a wretch. You have been irritable and miserable and youfeel that God can't possibly love you. You feel utterly disgusted with the failure ofyour flesh. You know that all you deserve is the back side of God's hand injudgment.

Then suddenly, out of the blue, God gives you some glorious blessing. At thatmoment there rises from your heart spontaneous praise to God in worship. Thisis the truest form of praise - the kind of worship which erupts spontaneously inresponse to God's grace. This is the kind of praise that says, "God is so verygood to me. I don't deserve a bit of it."

Because I relate to God on the basis of grace I am never, ever, cut off from Hisblessings. On the other hand, if I am expecting God's intervention on my behalfon the basis of my goodness or my deeds, I am cut off much of the time.

I have discovered that the lack of God's blessings on my life has nothing to dowith my outward performance, but rather stems from my lack of faith in God'sgrace. I have learned that God's blessing is unconditional. The more I see Hisblessing in my life, the more I realize how totally undeserving I am. Because ofthis truth, I can have glorious peace. I have no need to worry.

If we are trusting in our righteousness as the basis for our relationship with God,we will never experience consistent peace. Trying to relate to God on the basis ofeffort and works is always a struggle, always a strain, always pressured. If weare ever to come to know the peace of God, we must realize that this amazinggrace of God first flows toward us even though we're rotten and undeserving ofit.

Then, after accepting this glorious grace of God, the peace of God fills our heartsand lives. We know that He loves us - even though we are far from perfect, eventhough we have failed. Even when it seems as if nobody else loves us (and wedon't blame them, because we don't even love ourselves), still God loves us.

Have you ever heard of the Siamese twins of the New Testament? They're thetwo little words, "grace and peace." They are always coupled together, in thatorder. We might say that the elder of the twins is grace. It is always grace andpeace; we never read a salutation of peace and grace. Why? Because that wouldbe putting the cart before the horse. The proper order is always grace andpeace, because we cannot know the peace of God in our own hearts until wehave first experienced the grace of God in our lives.

As Pure as Jesus

The Bible says that someone who places his faith in Jesus has been "justified."What does that mean? It means that God has granted us a standing before Himjust as if we had never sinned.

This was no small feat for God to accomplish! For if we have all sinned andmissed the mark, how can God look at us as if we had never sinned and still bejust? If He sees our lives as they truly are and must act according to Hisattribute of justice, how can He treat us as though we were perfect?

This is where the power of the gospel comes in. God made the sinless Jesus tobe sin for us. The Scriptures declare that God laid on the innocent Christ the

iniquities of us all. Jesus literally took my place and took the punishment thatwas due me as a guilty sinner.

This is the glorious gospel of grace. We can have a standing of righteousnessbefore God far superior to anything we could achieve under the law. For nomatter how meticulously we try to keep the law, we always fall short. Therighteousness which comes through faith in Christ, however, is imputed to usand is complete. There is nothing that can be added to it. In Christ, I have anabsolutely perfect, righteous standing before God. There are no charges againstme. In His eyes, I am perfect. That doesn't mean that I am a perfect man - notby a long shot! It means that Jesus Christ is perfect and I have His righteousnesscredited to my account because of my faith in Him.

How I praise God for the knowledge of the grace of God that He brought to myheart and for the love relationship that I have with Him! It doesn't alter. Itdoesn't change when I am depressed, or wrong, or angry. It is a flowingrelationship that is steady and always present. He loves me when I am sweetand He loves me when I am mean. How good it is to know the grace of God andthe gospel according to grace!

3. No Favorites in the Kingdom

Have you noticed how oftentimes the very people we have classified asimpossible to save have been marked by God as the next converts?

It's not uncommon at Calvary Chapel for long-lost friends to meet unexpectedlyin a hallway, look quizzically at each other, and say in unison, "What are youdoing here?" Seeing each other in church with a Bible in hand and a smile ontheir face just wipes them out. Neither thought the other could be saved.

I don't suppose very many people in the early church were praying for Saul'ssalvation. They were probably saying, "Lord, wipe that guy out. He is going tokill the church. Stop him, Lord!" They were probably hoping God would lower theboom in judgment.

But God had another way of stopping him, unlike anything they anticipated. Godbrought Saul's life to a halt as he was on the road to Damascus and there turnedhim around 180 degrees. Saul was reborn as Paul and became the greatestproclaimer in history of the gospel of grace.

God is a specialist at taking the unlikeliest of candidates and turning them intotrophies of His grace. He is able to make a beautiful change in each of us. He canchange our value systems and make us new creatures in Christ. He calls us to beexamples of what His grace can do.

No One Too Small

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking God uses only "special" people - thestrong, the intelligent, the beautiful. We don't think He has a place for the rest ofus. We are so wrong!

God doesn't have "important" people. God uses ordinary people and worksthrough plain people. That is why Paul wrote, "For you see your calling, brethren,that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shamethe wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame thethings which are mighty" (I Corinthians 1:26,27).

God loves us ordinary folk and endows us with gifts so that we might fill ourplace in the body of Christ. Any ability we have is a gift from His hand.Everything we have was given to us. As Paul said in I Corinthians 4:7, "What doyou have that you did not receive?"

How can I glory in my ministry as though I didn't receive it, as though what I amable to share is something of my genius or brilliance? Anything worthwhile Ihave came from God. There is no way I can be proud and boastful, as though Iwere somebody independent of Him. Apart from Him, I am nothing. Apart fromHim, I can do nothing.

Men often develop an inflated view of their own importance and greatness andgloat over their place in the work of God. But the truth is, God doesn't need anyof us. I'm sorry if that makes you feel unimportant, but it's true. He has chosento use us, but He doesn't have to. He could just as easily use someone else.

To me, that is thrilling. I haven't been chosen to serve because I am sowonderful. God doesn't choose us because of our greatness or abilities orpotential. He chooses us because He decides to choose us. Important, proudpeople do not like that. They are "above" being chosen... so usually they are not.God chooses by His grace. He chose me. He chose you.

Heaven is going to be full of surprises. As we look around, the first surprise willbe all the people who we thought would never make it. The next surprise will bethose sitting in the front row in the places of honor. We will say, "Who are thesepeople? I never saw them before." "Some of them went to Calvary Chapel,"someone will say, "but where is Chuck?" And somewhere way out in the back ofthe crowd, in the peanut gallery, I will yell, "Here I am! Thank God, through Hisgrace, I made it."

All Are Equal in the Kingdom

Prior to meeting Jesus face to face on the road to Damascus, the apostle Paulspent the majority of his life as a Pharisee. The Pharisees, you remember, weremembers of the strict, legalistic Jewish sect that so strongly opposed Jesus. Youget a flavor for who they were by considering their prayers, a few of which havebeen preserved for us. Every morning the rabbis prayed, I thank you, Father,that I was not born a Gentile, a slave, or a woman." No doubt this was a part ofPaul's devotional life for many years.

How interesting it is, then, that in Galatians 3:28 the apostle turns all threecomponents of this traditional prayer on their heads. He writes, "There is neitherJew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

Jesus has made equal access to God available to all people. God receives us asHis dearly loved children - this is the beauty of the gospel.

Jesus is the great equalizer. His grace refuses to elevate one person overanother. We all are one because in Christ, God accepts one sinner just as readilyas He accepts another. God places tremendous value on each individual.

This gospel has made a tremendous impact wherever in the world it has gone.Consider women's rights. Prior to the arrival of Christianity in New Guinea,women were considered unworthy to worship God. A woman had only to touch aplace of worship to be put to death. Such second-class citizenship created aclimate of fear and shame and led to an extremely high suicide rate amongwomen. They had very little to live for and oppression was heavy. Imagine theimpact on this culture when the gospel of grace appeared on the scene.Suddenly men and women discovered that in Christ there is no distinctionbetween male and female.

Jesus has made equal access to God available to all people regardless of theirdemographic group. God does not receive us as justified strangers or distantacquaintances, but as His dearly loved children. John tells us that "as many asreceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to themthat believe on his name" (John 1:12). This is the beauty of the gospel.

No matter what we have been like or what wrong we have done, if we will placeour faith in Christ, we will be pardoned for all our sins. Even beyond this almostincomprehensible blessing, God also receives us as His sons. That is what Paulmeant when he wrote, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus"(Galatians 3:26). The word "children" in this passage literally means "placed as ason."

God doesn't have any important people. The objects of His grace are not only thestrong, or the beautiful, or the intelligent. He calls us ordinary folk to His sideand wraps His strong arms around us in a gentle embrace of love. This is thegospel of grace.

Chosen by Grace

Paul saw his whole life as the result of God's gracious choice. As he put it, "Itpleased God... to reveal his Son in me" (Galatians 1:15,16). That is what Godwants to do in every one of our lives. That is what God wants to do in you now.God desires to reveal His Son to the world through you.

In fact, God has been working in your life since the moment you were conceivedto make you the perfect instrument to reveal His Son. That is why Paul wrote,

"God... separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace"(Galatians 1:15). It is remarkable to see how God prepared Paul for his ministrylong before he had one.

God knew He was going to need a special person to bring the gospel of grace tothe Gentiles. This man would have to break with the ingrained tradition of theJews, who tended to be a clannish people. They would not mix with Gentiles,even refusing to eat with them or enter their houses. In fact, when a Phariseewalked down the street, he would hold his robes very tightly around him for fearthat his garment might touch a Gentile. Should a Pharisee accidentally touch anon-Jew, he would go home, take a bath, wash his robes, and stay away fromthe temple that day. He considered himself unclean. Yet the man God needed toproclaim the good news would have to go out and live with the Gentiles andbecome one with them.

How interesting it is that God chose for this special task the Jew who was mostzealous for the traditions of his fathers!

As Paul looked back, he could see how God's hand had been on his life from thevery beginning. Since Greek culture had saturated the world, the man God chosehad to be steeped in its customs and philosophy. Because he was going to betraveling extensively throughout the Roman empire and facing all kinds of perils,he needed to have Roman citizenship.

Therefore God arranged that Saul should be born a Roman citizen. How hiscitizenship was attained is not known, but it would definitely serve as a bigadvantage to Paul, saving him from some difficult and even life-threateningcircumstances (see Acts 22 and 25).

Tarsus also enjoyed a strong Greek culture. Paul had more than just a smallexposure to Hellenistic custom and thought; he was part of it. This made itpossible for him to deal effectively with the Gentiles and to know the nuances ofGreek thought. His background allowed him to communicate the truths of JesusChrist to the Greeks.

At the same time, God needed a person who was thoroughly Jewish. When Paulwas about 12 years old, his parents sent him to Jerusalem to study at the feet ofGamaliel, one of the great Jewish scholars of the day. There Paul becameabsorbed in Hebrew culture and tradition, mastering the Talmud and the HebrewScriptures. Paul grew extremely zealous for the law and sought to becomerighteous by keeping it to the best of his ability. He excelled among hiscontemporaries. To the Philippians he wrote, "If any other man thinketh that hehath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more" (Philippians 3:4). Peter and theother disciples, with their backgrounds as fishermen or tax collectors, weren'tprepared to understand the law as thoroughly as did Paul.

When the day finally came for God to reveal His grace to Paul on the DamascusRoad, the apostle could instantly fit together the Scriptures of the Old Testamentwith the recent appearance of Jesus Christ. He began to look at the Messiah froma new point of view. Paul was the perfect choice to preach the gospel of grace,

for if anyone had sought to be righteous by the law, it was Paul. Here was a manwho could say, "Concerning... the righteousness which is in the law, [I was]blameless" (Philippians 3:6). He knew the futility of trying to be righteous by thelaw, so when he came to the glorious knowledge of Jesus Christ, he gladlyembraced the new righteousness imputed to him through his faith in JesusChrist.

Nothing Has Changed

Paul's story is dramatic, but don't imagine for a moment that this kind of divinepreparation is unique to him or other New Testament saints. I can examine myown life, for example, and see that God separated me from my mother's wombfor the work He had for me to do.

I look back and see momentous events that didn't seem so momentous at thetime. Now I realize these incidents were the crossroads in my life that helped toshape and determine my destiny. Looking back, I can see the hand of God ineach of these situations, although at those times I didn't realize God's hand wasanywhere nearby. I thought God had deserted me. But now I see how God wasworking in every difficult circumstance of my life to prepare me for the work Hehad ordained for me. It is an exciting thing to recall some of the decisions Imade at critical moments and realize that God's hand was leading me all along.

We sing, "All the way my Savior leads me." In hindsight, I can testify that God'shand was upon my life from the beginning. Sometimes God supernaturallyintervened to protect me. He had a special work for me to do and He was fittingme for that work.

A few weeks before I was born my cousin died of spinal meningitis. My sisteralso was infected with this terrible disease. One day she went into convulsions sosevere that my family thought she was dead. My mother rushed out of ourapartment and up the street to the parsonage of a local church, where she laidmy sister's lifeless body on the carpet. The pastor and my mother began to praythat God would bring my sister back to life. Her eyes had rolled back, her jawhad set, and there was no apparent pulse.

When my dad returned home from the pool hall a while later, a nurse waswaiting for him. "You had better go find your wife," she said. "Your daughter isdying. She may even be dead by now." My father raced up the street to theparsonage to beat up the minister and take my sister to the hospital. He thoughtit was ridiculous to pray when you needed a doctor. But when he entered thehome and saw my sister's condition, he realized it was too late. He fell on hisknees, broken before God.

The minister told my mother, "Now, get your eyes off of your little girl. Just getyour eyes upon Jesus and begin to look to the Lord." My mother - pregnant withme - lifted her face to God and said, "Lord, if You will restore to me mydaughter, I will commit my life to You. I will serve You in whatever capacity Youwant." My sister was healed instantly. She began to cry, sat up, looked around,and wanted to go home. They took her home, completely healed.

A few weeks later I was born and the doctor announced, "You have a baby boy."My dad floated down the hall of the hospital shouting, "Praise the Lord, it's aboy!" At that time my mother prayed, "Thank You, Lord, for giving my daughterback to me. And the vow that I made to serve You, I will fulfill through my son."

From my earliest days, my mother planted the Word of God in my heart. As Iwas swinging out in the yard, she would help me memorize Scripture verses.When I was four years old she taught me how to read using the Bible. I spelledout the words I couldn't pronounce. She would later recount times when I didn'tknow all the letters and would do my best to describe them. She laughed as sheremembered how I would call a "v" a "tent upside down." With patience andlove, she nurtured and taught me the fear of God.

By the time I was seven years old I could name all of the books of the Bible andspell them. At bedtime, I never heard fairy tales, only Bible stories. Rather thanGoldilocks and the three bears, I grew up with David and Moses. My mothertaught me that when God was with you, you didn't have to fear anything oranybody. No giant could stand against you when God is with you.

I can't remember a time when I didn't know and love God. I have no kind ofconversion testimony. There was a time when I made my public profession offaith and was baptized, but it seems that from my mother's womb I wasseparated unto God and unto the Word of God.

As I grew older, I decided on a career as a neurosurgeon and so began takingcourses that would prepare me for that profession. Whenever I described myambitions, my mother would just smile and encourage me. She never told me ofthe commitment she made for my life at the time of my birth.

During my teen years God changed my life at a summer camp where I made acommitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ. God impressed upon my heart thatmen had needs far greater than the physical. Ministering to physical needsprovides temporary help, but ministering to spiritual needs helps peopleeternally. God called me to minister His healing to the spirit of man.

I thought my mom would be greatly disappointed when she learned her son wasnot going to be a doctor. I expected slumped shoulders and long faces when Iannounced to my family the change of direction for my life. But when I told mymother that I felt God calling me to the ministry and to Bible college, she justsmiled and said, "That's fine, son." It amazed me that she didn't cry or getupset.

I went to Bible college, received my training, married Kay, and together webegan our ministry. A short while before my mother died, she told me the storyof my sister's apparent death and her promise to God which she vowed to keepthrough me. She was one of the most beautiful, godly persons I have everknown, a deeply spiritual woman and a tremendous example. I can now lookback and see that even from my mother's womb I was separated unto God forthe ministry He had in mind for me.

Did you know the same is true of you? If through faith you have placed youreternal destiny in the loving hands of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that God is atwork shaping the events and circumstances of your life into a beautiful mosaicthat will reveal His Son to the men and women around you. His hand is on you,as it has been since before you were born.

Called by Grace

It is so important to remember that God's hand is on us by grace. All of us werecalled by grace. As Paul said, "It pleased God, who separated me from mymother's womb, and called me by His grace" (Galatians 1:15, emphasis added).I don't deserve to be called to serve God. I don't deserve to be saved. I don'tdeserve to be in heaven. I deserve the hottest spot in hell.

Yet that is not what God has given me or the rest of us. God has graciouslyplanned our lives and given each of us a special work to do. Some people areable to fulfill the plan of God for their life in just an hour's time; others of us areslow and plodding and it will take us a lifetime to fulfill God's ultimate purposefor us.

God has a special work for each of us to do and it is necessary that all of us beprepared for that work.

Remember Mordecai's question to Esther: "How do you know but that Godbrought you to the kingdom for such an hour as this?" (see Esther 4:14). Themajor purpose of God for Esther's existence was fulfilled in just a few days. Godraised her up, brought her into the Persian court, and made her the wife of KingAhasuerus in order that He, through her intercession, might spare the Jews.

God has a special work for each of us to do and it is necessary that all of us beprepared for that work. Many of us will spend the majority of our lives inpreparation before our day will come. We will fulfill the purpose of God for ourlife and then we will pass on. God's purposes for us will have been accomplished.

Wherever we find ourselves, God has a reason for placing us there. He has Hishand upon our lives and upon each circumstance in our lives. We may be goingthrough difficult trials, but hardships are necessary. God wants to develop in usthe characteristics that will enable us to fulfill His plan for us.

God is working in each of us. We are His workmanship, His poiema ormasterpiece (see Ephesians 2:10). God will work in each of us according to Hisgrace so that we might accomplish the work He has ordained for us in Hiskingdom and for His glory.

Beware the Snare

Satan knows that God's hand is on us and he will try to use our weaknesses andinabilities to discourage us. The devil often puts unreasonable demands upon us,

making us think God is behind them and prompting us to strive and struggle toachieve a level of perfection beyond our capacity.

As Satan harasses and burdens us, many times we fall into despair. We becomeextremely discouraged and we want to quit. But whenever we try to fulfill astandard that God has not set for us, our hearts grow heavy. And the results canbe tragic.

A young boy with a physical handicap had been attending our church. Afterevery service he made an effort to come up and talk to me. He had greatdifficulty speaking, yet I always admired his ability to express himself. I alsoadmired his intelligence; his questions were good and insightful.

He was also extremely troubled, however, and one day he tried to throw himselfin front of a car on a busy road in front of the church. He was brought into theoffice and we prayed with him and called the authorities. We felt for his ownsafety he needed to be examined by doctors. He was taken to a hospital, wherehe was examined and released.

It was clear he was suffering under a load of condemnation. "Chuck," he cried, "Ijust can't quit smoking."' I tried to tell him not to worry about it - that hissmoking did not make him a second-class Christian. The following Sunday hewas back at church and told me God had dealt with him. He said he had come toa place of real commitment, yet I could tell he was troubled. Clearly, Satan wasaccusing him about a weakness in his flesh and tormenting him about hisphysical handicap.

One day this burden of discouragement and condemnation cost this young manhis life. He jumped to his death off a balcony at a local high-rise hotel all becausehe allowed the enemy to use his weaknesses to discourage him.

If only that young man had learned that we can't be more than the person Godenables us to be! None of us ever achieves any value apart from the work ofGod's Holy Spirit in our lives. Thus, we are not to fret. We are not to condemnourselves. We are not to berate ourselves constantly for our failures. We are onlyto acknowledge and recognize our weakness, to humbly say, "Lord, I know that Iam weak. I need Your help. I turn this over to You and I ask You, Lord, to do forme what I can't do for myself." And He will.

All Are Welcome Here

The body of Christ is a beautiful thing. Every part of the body is vital andimportant. What a helpless and weird body it would be if it were all a mouth!God has made me a mouth in the body, but surely the whole body isn't a mouth.Many parts of the body are much more important than the mouth. How beautifulit is to see the body of Christ functioning as intended, with people from everywalk of life and demographic group and background working together to serveGod in unity!

God wants to reveal His Son in you, wherever you came from and wherever youare and in whatever you are doing. Let Jesus Christ shine forth through your life,your attitudes, your reactions, and your responses.

We used to sing a chorus in church, "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, allHis wonderful passion and purity. Oh, Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine, tillthe beauty of Jesus be seen in me." This is more than just a beautiful chorus anda marvelous prayer. It should be the desire of each of our hearts: "Oh Lord, letYour beauty be seen in me." As David prayed, "I shall be satisfied, when Iawake, with thy likeness" (Psalm 17:15).

By the Spirit, all of us - the lovely and the plain, the strong and the weak, thebrilliant and the slow - are being changed into the likeness of Jesus. Together weare the objects of His grace. And together we shall all be satisfied on thatglorious day when we awake in His likeness.

How could it be otherwise?

4. Portrait of Grace

Itís one thing to talk about grace in the abstract, but quite another to describewhat it looks like. If "a picture is worth a thousand words," what kind of picturedoes grace make?

Perhaps the best picture of grace in the entire Bible is provided by an OldTestament character cited by several writers in the New Testament. Abraham isuniversally accepted as the father of those who believe. He gives us a clearpicture of what grace is and does.

In both Romans and Galatians, the apostle Paul goes back to Abraham as theprime example of a man whom God accepted on the basis of his faith. InRomans 4:3, Paul wrote, "What saith the scriptures? Abraham believed God, andit was counted unto him for righteousness." The apostle uses the same examplein Galatians 3:6,7, where he wrote, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it wasaccounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are offaith, the same are the children of Abraham."

Rehearsing the Story

Genesis 15 tells us that Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were unable to havechildren. Yet God gave them a promise that through their seed, all nations of theearth would be blessed. Despite the improbability of it all, Abraham trusted God.Genesis 15:6 says, 'And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him forrighteousness."

As year after year rolled on and no baby came, however, Abraham and Sarahbegan to doubt whether God was going to follow through on His promise. So oneday Sarah took matters into her own hands and suggested that Abraham

impregnate her handmaid, Hagar. They would then raise the child as if it weretheir own. (How interesting that the idea of surrogate parenthood isn't asmodern a development as we'd like to think!) Hagar conceived and gave birth toa son, who they named Ishmael. Yet when this child was 13 years old, Godrepeated His promise to Abraham. Abraham still had a hard time believing thatGod would give him a son with Sarah. He told God that the idea was nice, butreally, Ishmael was already there - why not just bless him?

How encouraging that Abraham, a man the Bible calls the "father of all thosewho believe" (Romans 4:11), struggled to believe that the promise could befulfilled through Sarah's seed! When the Lord repeated His promise to provide ason through Sarah, it was so incredible that Sarah laughed. Years later when thepromise was fulfilled and Sarah gave birth, they named their son Isaac, whichmeans "laughter."

As Isaac grew, his older brother Ishmael came to resent the attention lavishedon this child of promise. At the party given to celebrate the weaning of Isaac,Ishmael stood at a distance, mocking his brother. When Sarah observed hisspiteful attitude, she demanded that Abraham send away both him and hismother Hagar. She insisted that Ishmael would not share in the inheritancedestined for Isaac.

Naturally, Abraham was crushed by this turn of events, but God assured himthat He would take care of Ishmael. Abraham was to listen to Sarah and cast outthe bondwoman and her son. It was clear that they could not inherit thepromised blessing of God.

Painting the Picture

When Paul wanted to bolster his case for righteousness by grace through faith,he pointed his readers back to Abraham. He said the story of Abraham containedan allegory that could make his point clear. Traditionally, rabbis of Paul's timeheld that there were primarily two interpretations for every passage of Scripture.The first, called the peshat, referred to the plain and obvious meaning of thetext. They also held that there was a hidden meaning to each passage (theremez). Some rabbis held to two additional types of interpretation: the derash,which involved allegorical meanings and anything not literal; and the sod("secret"), which yielded an allegorical meaning. The drawback to these complexand often contradictory schools of thought is that they leave the average personconfused and doubtful about the message of Scripture.

I believe the best focus is the plain and obvious meaning of the text. God isentirely capable of saying exactly what He means to say. So many have strayedfrom the clear teaching of the Bible by pursuing spiritualized, fancifulinterpretations of Scripture. Let's face it: With enough spiritualizing, we can takesomething as innocuous as Old Mother Hubbard and develop a tremendoussermon out of that tale. Think of the deep spiritual implications of this oldwoman who went to the cupboard to get her poor dog a bone. Why, we canpicture her, trapped in the desolation, discouragement, and emptiness of life

because the cupboard was bare. What a tragic day when all our resources aregone!

With a little imagination we can create doctrinal mountains out of the smallestmolehill. The best rule of thumb, then, is to avoid allegorical interpretationsunless Scripture itself gives us the basis for the allegory. In this case, by theinspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul draws an allegorical implication from the life ofAbraham which can be trusted:

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the otherby a free-woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh;but he of the free-woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: forthese are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth tobondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth toJerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalemwhich is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice,thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: forthe desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we,brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise But as then he that was bornafter the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: forthe son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. Sothen, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free (Galatians4:22-31).

The Significance of the Story

Paul tells us that these events are not only significant in a purely historicalsense, but that they also illustrate the plight of those who try to inherit theblessings of God through works. Hagar and her son are a picture of those whotry to be righteous before God by fulfilling the law. When Abraham and Sarahdespaired of seeing the promise fulfilled, they turned to their own efforts, whichbrought only heartache and frustration. Since Ishmael was a product of theflesh, he serves as a type of those who are seeking to be blessed by humanworks. Isaac, on the other hand, is the child of promise, representing those whowill inherit God's blessing through faith.

Interestingly, just as Ishmael mocked Isaac, those who live under the law todaycontinue to deride those who choose to live by faith. Paul suggests that thepressure tactics of the Judaizers; were prefigured in the conflict between thesebrothers. In like manner, those in his day who insisted on adherence to the lawfor righteousness were to be cast out. In A.D. 70 this allegory was fulfilled asJerusalem was destroyed by the Roman legions under Titus. Those whopersecuted men and women of faith were literally sent into exile.

The freedom, the promise, and the blessings of God belong to all who seek rightstanding with God through Jesus Christ.

Paul contrasts the sad end of the legalists with the wonderful future of thechildren of faith. Quoting Isaiah, he writes, "Rejoice, thou barren that bearest

not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath manymore children than she which hath an husband" (verse 27). He means that thesebelievers, gathered into the kingdom as a result of faith, were going to vastlyoutnumber all those who tried to reach God by their own works.

Just here the allegory comes into focus: "So then, brethren, we are not childrenof the bond-woman, but of the free" (verse 31). All those who belong to Christwill inherit the blessings of God and are the fulfillment of His promise toAbraham that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

We have been blessed through the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. The freedom,the promise, and the blessings of God belong to all those who seek rightstanding with God through faith in Jesus Christ. As children of the promise andrecipients of the unconditional love of God, we can now enjoy a wonderfulconsistency in our walk with Christ.

As the hymn so eloquently puts it, "Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe; Sin hadleft a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." When we appear before thethrone of God, we will stand in awe of all Christ has done for us. As we see thepower of the promises of God, none of us will say, "Through my own faithful anddetermined efforts, I have attained this glory." Instead we will bow our heads,overflowing with joy, and say, "Thank You, Jesus; You did it all! I knew You couldsave me. I knew that by my good works I could never save myself. Thank You,Lord."

A Key Question

Such was Abraham's faith. But the key question is, When did God proclaim thisman righteous when he was circumcised or before he was circumcised? The falseteachers at Galatia were saying, "You can't be righteous unless you arecircumcised." They insisted that a ritual was essential for salvation.

So when did God impute Abraham's faith for righteousness? Was it before orafter he had received the rite of circumcision? It was before, not after! Abrahamwas accounted righteous before he knew a thing about this ritual. Thedeclaration of his imputed righteousness is found in Genesis 15, while the rite ofcircumcision is not introduced until two chapters later. Righteousness wasimputed to Abraham the moment he believed and trusted in God.

The same is true for you and me. At the moment we believe and trust in JesusChrist, God imputes to our account righteousness - not on the basis of what wehave done or what we are going to do, but simply on the basis of our belief inJesus Christ.

As Christ is the Lord of heaven, the Son of God, and my own personal Savior, Iwill trust in Him. When I do, God says of me, "Righteous!" One day Jesus wasasked, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" Jesus replied,"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him who he hath sent" (John6:28,29). If you want to do the work of God, believe on Jesus Christ. That is thework of God. That is what God requires of you.

But What is Real Faith?

It is interesting that James - who writes an epistle to kick some Christians in thepants to get them off of their duffs and get them moving - also uses Abraham asa picture of faith. His particular concern is to show that faith without works isdead (James 2:26). James says that Abraham's faith led him to do certainthings, and therefore God recognized his faith: "Seest thou how faith wroughtwith his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture wasfulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him forrighteousness: and he was called the Friend of God" (James 2:22,23).

Our actions must be in harmony with what we believe. Belief isn't merely whatwe say; belief is demonstrated by what we do.

In other words, true faith is more than a verbalization. True faith leads toappropriate actions. If I truly believe a certain thing, then my actions will be inkeeping with what I believe. I may vehemently protest a belief in something, butif my actions are inconsistent with my professed belief, then my belief must becalled into question.

For example, I may say that I believe there is going to be a great stock marketcrash on Monday and that money is no longer going to be any good. The banksare all going to be closed, the savings and loans are going to shut their doors,and you will not be able to get your money out. Yet if I don't go down to thebank immediately and withdraw all of my deposits, you could rightfully say that Ireally didn't believe what I had said.

Our actions must be in harmony with what we believe or our belief can be calledinto question. Because Abraham truly believed that through Isaac his seed wouldbe called, he was able to take his son up to the mountain, place him on the altar,and raise the knife. He was ready to bring the knife down because he believedthat God had promised that through Isaac his seed would be called (Isaac didnot at that point have any children) and he was willing to obey God in offeringIsaac as a sacrifice. He knew that God would, if necessary, raise Isaac from thedead to fulfill his promise (see Hebrews 11:19). That is how much he believedthe promises of God.

How much do we believe the promises of God? Many years ago I heard of afellow who ran out of fuel in the middle of a blizzard and needed to ask aneighbor for some oil. The river that separated his house from his neighbor's wasfrozen over, so he got down on his hands and knees and reached out as far ashe could on the ice, rapping with his knuckles to determine the ice's thickness.In this way he inched his way across the river, reaching out and tapping. Soonhis knuckles were bloody. Just about the time he reached the far bank of theriver, he heard a rumbling behind him... and saw a team of horses thunderingacross the river.

Some of us say, "I believe the promise of God," yet we are knocking to see if Hispromise will hold us up. We inch out so carefully. "I know God said He was going

to supply all of my needs," we say, "but I'm not sure He will. That bill is due -and I am knocking to see if He is going to hold me. I sure hope His promiseholds up!" In contrast, others venture right out on the promises of God. ' Theyhave learned that God always keeps His promises, no matter how bad thecircumstances appear. At one time, they may have been ice-tappers, too - buttime after time they discovered that God is faithful. Eventually their belief wasstrengthened, and they began to act on their belief All of us act out our truebeliefs; they are demonstrated in our life.

Abraham's belief was demonstrated by his actions. Had he sat there and arguedwith God, he would not have truly believed. Imagine if he had said, "God, I can'toffer Isaac. What do you mean, Lord? He is my son. You have promised thatthrough him the nations of the world will be blessed. Lord, I can't do that." A lotof people think that merely saying something makes it a belief. But belief isn'tmerely what you say; belief takes action. It is demonstrated by what you do.

That is why James, citing the same passage from the Old Testament as did Paul,seeks to prove that faith without works is dead. To say you believe somethingand yet fail to live out that belief proves that you don't have real faith. True faithdemonstrates itself in actions which are in harmony with the faith that isdeclared. Abraham believed God, and his belief worked itself out in actions thatwere in harmony with his belief. Therefore, God considered his faith asrighteousness.

Abraham was not righteous because of what he did. He was righteous because ofwhat he believed. What he did was in harmony with what he believed. God tookthe belief and imputed righteousness to Abraham for his belief.

Get the Picture?

None of this means, of course, that our actions are always going to be perfect.As children of God who believe in Jesus Christ, we are engaged in spiritualwarfare. Though our spirits are renewed in Christ Jesus, we are still living inthese old corrupt houses, our bodies. My corrupted house makes strongdemands upon me. I find at times that I am battling my flesh so that I do not dothe things I really want to do. Sometimes my activities and actions are opposedto my faith in Jesus Christ.

But I can't live in that condition. I may stumble and fall, as does everyone, but Idon't lie there. The Spirit won't let me lie there. He prompts me and helps me tostand up again. When I stumble or fall, God doesn't get out the eraser and blotout my name from the book of life. When you are trying to teach your son ordaughter to walk, their stumbling doesn't prompt you to shout, "Get out of here,you brat. You are not my child, falling like that! I disown you." No, you pick upyour child and say, "You're all right. Try it again. Come to daddy, now. Come on!Come on!" You encourage your child to try again and again.

You are God's child. He is trying to help you to develop a walk with Him. It iscomforting to know that when we stumble and fall, He doesn't kick us out. Hedoesn't disown us. He doesn't say, "You are not My child anymore because you

have stumbled!" Instead, He picks us up and dusts us off. He says, 'All rightnow, try again."

Anyone who is born of God cannot live in sin. We cannot be practicing a life ofsin. If we are, we are proving that we do not believe what we say we do.Abraham believed God and his actions followed his belief.

Of course, that doesn't mean that once Abraham committed his life to God infaith he never wavered in belief again. Far from it! Sandwiched around theBible's declaration of Abraham's faith in Genesis 15:6 are two incidents thatdescribe great lapses in his faith. Chapters 12 and 20 of Genesis describe howAbraham concocted lies designed to save his own skin rather than relying on Godto keep him safe. Abraham could be an ice-tapper, too - but that wasnít thedominant characteristic of his life. He suffered occasional lapses, as we all do,but he didn't live in those lapses. He lived out his faith to such an extent that theBible calls him a man of faith. Abraham's faith led him to act out his faith.

And yet, it was not his actions by which God determined his righteousness; hisrighteousness was determined by his believing. It is the same with us. Our faithmust necessarily lead to a life of obedience and right actions, but it is not thoseright actions or our obedience that earn us right standing before God. Therighteousness of Jesus Christ is imparted to us by faith.

By virtue of the fact that I believe in God and am trusting in Jesus Christ, Ibecome a son of Abraham. I become a descendant, and thus the promises andcovenant blessings that God gave to Abraham are mine as well.

This gospel of grace was preached long ago in Abraham. His life is a gloriouspicture of what grace is and does. It is far more beautiful than any paintinghanging in the Louvre or in the Prado or in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It isa stunning portrait of God's love for a sinner who places his complete trust inHim - and the best thing of all about the picture is that we're right there in thebackground, with the word "blessed" emblazoned on our foreheads.

5. One Step at a Time

Years ago a close friend operated a delivery business to grocery stores. Duringhis rounds he met the wife of a man who owned a small market. They began tokid around with one another and, before long, they were meeting regularly todrink coffee and to talk. They soon fancied themselves in love, left their families,and moved in together. That's when this man's wife, also a dear friend, called usand asked if we would pray for him.

Meanwhile, the minister of the church where our friends had been attending paida visit to the man. The pastor told him that he had a vision of a black hearse andif the man didn't leave this woman and go back to his wife, they were going tocarry him out of that room feetfirst. This heavy-handed approach only made the

man more angry and entrenched him in his immoral decision. His wife thencalled me and asked if I would talk to him.

I agreed to go and found my friend living in a shabby garage apartment on thebad side of town. When I saw his filthy little home, I was struck by how much hehad lost. His wife and daughters were beautiful people. His home was in awonderful area. This man had sold his soul for a crust of bread. As he came tothe door, a look of shame covered his face. He was very polite and invited me tocome in and sit down. As I looked around at my friend's new life I thought, Oh,God! How could he give up so much for so little?

My heart was breaking because I loved this man. The sight of what he had falleninto tore me apart. I found myself unable to conceal my feelings, and much tomy embarrassment I began to weep. I was overcome with grief, and when hislover emerged from the kitchen all I could do was sob. I finally got soembarrassed I said, "I'm very sorry. I know I came over to see you, but I justcan't talk right now." I got up, left, and went home feeling like a fool. Here mygood friend's wife wanted me to visit him and make an appeal for reconciliation,and all I could do was sit there and cry.

The next morning I received a phone call with news that left me in shock. Myfriend had returned to his wife and family just hours after my visit.

What did God use to achieve this miraculous healing of a fractured relationship?Not a holier-than-thou attitude, to be certain. His Spirit had created in me aspirit of meekness and brokenness that led to a joyful reconciliation. I thought Ihad blundered terribly - but I discovered that whenever we choose to walk in theSpirit, God delights to work powerfully In stunning and unexpected ways.

Walking in the Spirit is an amazingly practical proposition. It doesn't mean thatwe float through life with a halo over our head and an angelic smile on our face.We can be spiritually minded and still relate to people about earthly things.Some believers react so strongly against the pervasive worldliness of our culturethat they lose the ability to communicate with their friends, relatives, andneighbors. Walking in the Spirit doesn't take us out of reality; it allows us tofunction in reality with optimum effectiveness.

Relationship First

Somebody once said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."How true that is in the spiritual realm! While walking in the Spirit is an incrediblypractical proposition, we must bear in mind that it's not the place we begin.Relationship always precedes behavior.

A great example of this principle is found in the book of Ephesians. The firstthree chapters all deal with relationship. Only then does the fourth chapterbegin, "Therefore... walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Therelationship comes first because it provides the foundation for everything thatfollows.

If we try to walk without first establishing the proper relationship, we won'tmake it. Walking requires that we first acquire balance. This is true even in thephysical realm. Before children take their first steps, they must learn how tokeep their balance while sitting. Next they master the art of standing. Then theylearn to wobble a little. And only after that do they develop the ability to walk.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells us that by understanding what it means tobe seated with Christ we will begin to experience the power of God, which in turnwill allow us to walk in a manner pleasing to Him. There is a definite progressionhere. First we must have a balanced relationship with God; then we can learn towalk.

At one time all of us lived after our flesh, obeying the desires of our flesh andour minds, and were alienated from God. But then God's grace transformed ourlives and we began to enjoy delightful fellowship with the Lord. We continue toenjoy that deep fellowship as we allow God's Spirit to exercise control over ourlives.

Walking Our Talk

There are many who claim to have a relationship with God, who throw around allthe right Christian buzzwords and catchphrases, but who simply aren't walkingwith God in any practical way. It is crucial that we learn to "walk our talk." Ourlives must be consistent with the calling, the blessings, and the profession wemake concerning our new relationship with God.

Our mind is the battleground where we decide whether to live after the Spirit orafter our fleshly desires.

The question is, How do we manage this? How do we avoid being carried awayby the allure of the world? Paul had an answer in Galatians 5:16: "This I saythen, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (emphasisadded).

The Greek word translated "walk" in this passage is a term used to describe thedominant characteristic of a person's life. If someone were to have a reputationas a real miser, he would be known as a person who "walked" in greed. If aperson characteristically was concerned and helpful, he would be known assomeone who "walked" in kindness.

To walk in the Spirit means that we allow the Holy Spirit to exercise control overour lives. Every day we are presented with the option of living after the Spirit orafter our own fleshly desires. Our mind is the battleground where we will decidewhich will have dominion.

It is helpful to remember that God has designed the human mind to work muchas a computer does. A computer can only produce that which has beenprogrammed into it. In like manner, our minds are being programmed daily. Ifour input comes from the flesh, our lives will be characterized by the flesh. If we

begin to program our minds with the things of the Spirit, our lives will begin toreflect the priorities of the Spirit.

How easy it is to fall into the trap of making a bold profession of a vital spirituallife when our number-one priority is seeking to please the flesh! Certainly thepower that our fallen nature can hold over us is one of the biggest problems weface in life. How can we be free from the seemingly unconquerable bondage tothe flesh?

The simple yet profound answer is this: Don't fight the flesh, strengthen theSpirit! Don't fight against the darkness; turn on the light.

To do this, we must first recognize that we have both a spiritual and a fleshlyside to our nature. If we are to walk in the Spirit, we must feed the spiritualman. We all know what it means to feed the physical side of our nature. If I missfeeding my body, it is not subtle about reminding me of its needs.

Someone once told me that after three days of fasting, the hunger goes away. Ihave found the opposite to be true. Three days into a fast, my mind is busydreaming of the most luscious concoctions imaginable. This is simply my body'semphatic way of reminding me that its needs must be tended to. And so we feedour bodies. We exercise and take vitamins so that we might grow strongphysically.

Becoming strong in spirit requires a similar regimen. We must regularly consumethe bread of life, the Word of God.

Taking in the Word

How ironic it is that our consumption of the Word is often the last thing we getaround to. "Of course, I need to spend time in God's Word," we say, "but I justdon't seem to have time right now." In essence, we are fasting in the Spirit. Ourspiritual side often gets fed irregularly, spasmodically, and in an unbalancedway. We neglect a regular, systematic study of the Word for a "let's flip open theBible and see what catches our eye" approach. Often we have no consistentpractice of Bible study or personal growth. We end up dutifully feeding the areasof our flesh but neglecting the needs of the spirit. As a result, the spiritual manbecomes weak and the flesh begins to dominate.

If I want my spiritual man to be strong, it only stands to reason that I must sowto my spirit. I can't be sowing to the flesh and hope that I'm somehow going toproduce a spiritual crop. In order to walk in the Spirit, I must begin to feed thespirit. That means I must make it a point to get more and more into the Word ofGod. Job said, "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than mynecessary food" (job 23:12, NKJV). It is important to see God's Word as theessential that it is. Jesus claimed that His words were spirit and life, so a regular,systematic time in God's Word is essential if we are to walk in the Spirit.

Communing with God

A high priority on prayer is another essential for experiencing the joys of walkingin the Spirit. As we thrill to the excitement of communing with God, we findourselves being strengthened in spirit. We become more and more conscious ofthe presence of God in all that we do and in every circumstance we encounter.

To walk in the Spirit simply means that we deliberately make God our constantcompanion.

Being aware of God's presence opens our understanding to a more full anddeveloped worldview. I am convinced that one of our greatest needs is tobecome more and more aware of God's presence at all times. When Paul spoketo the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens as recounted in Acts 17, hedeclared that "in [God] we live, and move, and have our being" (verse 28).

Our lives can be remarkably transformed when we come to realize that God iswith us continually. Losing sight of that fact can open the door to spiritualdisaster. The farther God is removed from our consciousness, the more we arestrongly drawn to the things that feed and please our fallen nature. When westumble and fall we may point to many external factors to explain our behavior,but the root of our problem is a failure to keep God's presence in mind. Theinstruction to walk in the Spirit simply means that we are to deliberately makeGod our constant traveling companion as we move through the day.

When we walk in the Spirit, living in constant awareness of the presence of God,we no longer need others to nag and preach at us about living up to Christianstandards. Our lives will be revolutionized as we keep the nearness and love ofGod in the front of our minds.

Turning Irritation into Joy

The way we think about even the most mundane things changes radically whenwe allow the Holy Spirit to rule our lives. Our outward circumstances may remainthe same, but our attitude undergoes such a total transformation that we findjoy even in things that used to irritate us.

We all have things to do that we find detestable. We go through a classicapproach - avoidance conflict, knowing that while we hate to do these things,failing to do them will only worsen our situation.

I despise taking out the trash. Yet I know that if I don't do it, there will soon bea foul odor stinking up the porch. Therefore I bite the bullet and do the job. Iwould much rather be enjoying a bowl of chocolate-chip ice cream, but if Ineglect my duty, soon the stench of decaying garbage will mix with the flavor ofchocolate chips, and suddenly my desire for ice cream melts away.

Even in something as ordinary as this household chore, I have a choice. I cangrumble about how much I hate hauling garbage, or I can seize the time it takesto do this job and commune with God. I can worship Him by whistling a tune ofthanksgiving and love as I walk to the curb. As I draw near to God, I find myselfthinking less about trash and more about His grace. I can sail through even the

most distasteful task and not be perturbed by it if I set my mind on the things ofthe Spirit.

Consider waiting as another example. There are few things more aggravatingthan a red traffic light when you're in a hurry, knowing that you'll have to waitthrough a whole sequence of signals before you can get moving again.

But rather than getting tense, I have made it a practice to keep my Bible on theseat beside me. When I come to a red light and know I have some time, I'll startto read a portion of Scripture. The next thing I know the guy behind me ishonking his horn. Time passes so quickly when I feed on the Word!

Walking in the Spirit becomes an exciting experience as we learn what it meansto be in deep fellowship with God. We become more and more attuned to thethings of God - from His presence within our hearts to the marvelous works ofHis creation.

Who's in the Lead?

Walking assumes movement. When we walk, we move from one place toanother. We start out in one location and end up someplace else. Our destinationdepends upon the direction we take.

In a similar way, walking in the Spirit moves us from one spiritual place toanother. We move from one level of maturity to the next as we listen to theSpirit and walk in the direction He instructs us to move - yet this is where wesometimes run into trouble.

When a thought or an inclination comes to our conscience, how can we discernwhether the notion is from God? The Scriptures tell us that God writes His law onthe fleshly tablets of our hearts (see Jeremiah 31:33; II Corinthians 3:3). Godwill plant an idea within my spirit, and my spirit will communicate it to myintellect. This is usually perceived as an idea, a thought, or as a sudden momentof inspiration. God will give us a desire as a means of communicating His will forour lives.

Unfortunately, I also have desires that come from my own fallen nature. My fleshhas a way of injecting very strong thoughts and inclinations into my mind. Attimes it is difficult to discern whether a notion has come from God or from myflesh.

Some time ago I was faced with this dilemma as I was driving to a speakingengagement in Ventura, California. It was a spectacular day and the thoughtcrossed my mind to take a detour off the more direct route and enjoy the beautyof the Pacific Coast Highway. Watching the surf and feeling the cool sea breeze issuch a treat that I suspected the desire was of my own flesh, but I decided toindulge myself anyway.

As circumstances worked out, I realized that God had planned for me to take theCoast Highway. As I neared Malibu, I saw two hitchhikers standing by the road

and I felt a strong inclination to pull over and give them a ride. As our trip northprogressed, I had the opportunity to share Christ with this twosome.

The pair stayed in Ventura and the following night attended the church where Iwas speaking. That evening they made a public confession of faith in Christ andhave since become strongly established in that local fellowship. After the wholeexperience unfolded, I was able to look back and think, Wow! That was beautiful.God directed me. The desire I had in my heart to take the Coast Highway hadcome from Him.

Still, it is often difficult to determine when the Lord is speaking to our hearts. Weoften mistakenly think that God can lead us only in mystical or dramatic ways.Surely if God speaks to me, we think, the place is going to shake, the lights willgo dim, and my hair is going to stand on end. God has never spoken to me inthat way. When God speaks to me, He speaks to my spirit, which in turncommunicates the message to my consciousness in such a natural way that it istough to immediately discern whether it is truly God's voice.

I wish I could provide a formula or a simple, three-point test to identify God'svoice, but if such a procedure exists, I haven't discovered it. I struggle indistinguishing the voice of the Spirit from that of my flesh, just as you do. I wishI could recommend some foolproof way of being certain we are hearing fromGod, but unfortunately, that is beyond my ability.

And yet, God hasn't left us in a confusing fog. He has sent His Holy Spirit todwell within our hearts not only to guide us in particular circumstances but alsoto lead us into an understanding of the revealed truth of His Word. He will neverlead us contrary to anything He has already declared in the Scriptures.

Understanding the Word

It is interesting to see how some people who have yet to receive the Lord end upincredibly discouraged when they attempt to read the Bible. They see thetremendous influence the Scriptures have had on the lives of millions and itsimpact on western civilization, and they want to understand what it has to say.

Invariably, these people become bogged down and exasperated and the meaningof the Bible eludes them. This should not surprise us, because the Bible itselftells us that the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit, neithercan he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (see I Corinthians2:14). On the other hand, the spiritual man understands all things, though he isnot understood by others. Because we have become rightly related to Godthrough Christ, His Holy Spirit can now unfold truth to our hearts. The Word ofGod becomes alive and understandable to us.

This continuing revelatory ministry of the Spirit is vital. It is amazing how often Ican read through a chapter of Scripture and get nothing out of it. I find myselfcoming to the end of the chapter and saying to myself, "Now, what was it that Ijust read?" At this point, I will often stop and pray, "Lord, surely this chapter hassomething to say to me. Please open my understanding and allow Your Spirit to

minister to me from Your Word." Then, as I reread the chapter, I am amazed atthe truth that breaks forth on my heart.

During our Sunday-morning services at Calvary we usually have a responsivereading from the Psalms. By our third service, I end up seeing things in theScripture text that hadn't occurred to me in our first hour. One of the verses willbegin to minister to me in a very special and powerful way. This experience ofbeing led into all truth is a vivid part of what it means to walk in the Spirit.

Press On!

Between the flesh, this fallen world system, and Satan himself, we face realhindrances to spiritual growth. But the counsel of Scripture is to press on for theprize of the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 3:14).Jesus said, "Strive to enter in at the [narrow] gate" (Luke 13:24). The Greekword translated "strive" is agonizomai, from which we get our English wordagonize. Make no mistake; it isn't easy or natural to walk in the Spirit. It takesgenuine effort, devotion, and moment-by-moment concentration.

It can't be overemphasized that this is a choice each of us must make daily.When we choose to walk in the Spirit, the practical results can be breathtakinglybeautiful. We will enjoy a wonderful depth and consistency in our fellowship withGod. As the apostle John observed, "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light,we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son,cleanseth us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

What's especially exciting about fellowship with God is that the more weexperience it, the more we desire it. The more we are personally touched by thepeace and fulfillment of intimate communion with the Father, the harder it is tolive without it. When we find ourselves out of fellowship, an inner emptiness callsus back to prayer and the Word.

As we walk in the Spirit, we begin to enjoy the tremendous benefits of a closerelationship with God. We feel a conscious sense of joy welling up within ourhearts. We can whistle while we face the aggravating responsibilities of lifebecause even in the midst of a dirty job, our joy is in the Lord. There is a senseof peace, a depth of understanding, a patience, a kindness, a gentleness thatcomes from walking in the Spirit. There is a strength and power to cope with thepersistent desires of the flesh. We suddenly are able to see the big picture andfind the wisdom to deal with our fallen nature in a realistic and rational way. AsPaul summed it up, "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually mindedis life and peace" (Romans 8:6).

How could we fail to be drawn with all our hearts to the glorious new life whichGod freely offers to us in His grace? A life strengthened by the Spirit with joy,love, and peace flowing through us - is exactly what we passionately desire.

But in order to experience this blessing, we must choose to walk in the Spirit. Wemust come to God and ask Him to plant a greater desire for prayer, for time inthe Word, and for fellowship with Jesus in our hearts. We must pray for the

grace to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is then that wewill know tremendous victory over even our most besetting sins, and it is thenthat the Spirit of God is able to use us in the most extraordinary ways.

Even when all we can do is blubber.

6. A Garden, Not a Factory

Have you ever considered the vast difference between "works" and "fruit"?"Works" suggests a factory complete with pressures, deadlines, and the constantneed to produce. But "fruit" pictures a peaceful, tranquil garden, a place wherewe are inclined to stay and drink in the beauty while we enjoy each other'scompany.

It's important to realize that God doesn't come to His factory looking forproducts. He comes to His garden to enjoy its fruit. The gospel of grace invitesus to leave behind the smog and pressure of a factory-like life of works andinstead bear the fruit that God desires to see in the garden of our lives.

The Natural Result of Relationship

Galatians 3:2,3 is a critical passage for those who desire to live in a way thatpleases God. Paul writes, "This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spiritby the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Havingbegun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

Notice the apostle is comparing two things:ï the Spirit, which is related to faith;ï works, which are related to the flesh.

Whenever we get into the realm of works, we are dealing with the flesh.Whenever we are in the realm of the Spirit, we are dealing with faith. The Spiritand faith are related, as are works and the flesh.

Someone may say, "But Chuck, we must do works for the Lord." No, we mustn't.There is not one thing that I can do in my flesh that will please God. On theother hand, faith always produces fruit.

If you are involved in works, then you are relying on the flesh. But if you arewalking by faith with Jesus Christ, the Spirit is producing fruit in your life. Fruitisn't something you are generating because you think you have to; fruit is thenatural result of relationship.

Look at the luscious fruit hanging on a peach tree. The peaches aren't out therestruggling and working day by day trying to get ripe; all they have to do is hangin there. Ripening is the natural product of relationship. As long as they areabiding, they are going to bring forth sweet fruit.

This is true of our own experience as well. If we are truly abiding in Christ -which is a position of faith - then fruit will come forth from the relationship. Ifthere is no fruit in my life, then the relationship must be questioned and evenchallenged.

That is why Paul tells us, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; proveyour own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,except ye be reprobates?" (II Corinthians 13:5). Jesus told us that there is sucha thing as a wolf in sheep's clothing. You can look like a Christian, act like aChristian, and talk like a Christian - but grandma, what big teeth you have! Youmay have all the outward appearances of a sheep but in reality be a wolf.

So how are we going to know who's who? Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shallknow them" (Matthew 7:20, emphasis added).

We are called to examine our lives in order to determine what kind of fruit we'rebearing. If the fruit is bad, then there is something wrong with our relationship,which means there is something wrong with our faith. A vital relationship of faithin Jesus Christ will bring forth fruit - without fail.

Our Big Mistake

One of our biggest problems is that we tend to be more interested in what we dothan in what we are, while God is more interested in what we are than in whatwe do. He looks for fruit; we try to produce works.

Sadly, through the years we have all heard things like, "You ought to be doingthese works for the Lord; you ought to be doing that work for God." We arealways being exhorted and pressed into works for the kingdom. So we get outand start doing a work for God because the pastor or the committee has askedus to do it.

Maybe it is calling on visitors to the church when God hasn't called us to be acaller. I know some people who are petrified by visiting the homes of strangers.When they go to a door and knock, they're fervently praying, "Lord, please don'tlet them be home tonight." Visitation isn't natural for them. It is a forced effort,a work of the flesh, which they soon come to resent. They hate it and begin todrag their heels. So the committee chairman calls them up and says, "We missedyou last Tuesday in our calling night. We want to make sure you are there nextTuesday night." They grudgingly respond, "Okay," and the downward spiralcontinues.

That's how you get pushed into molds for which God did not create you. You areforced into unnatural positions and you begin to chafe under your service to God.But God does not want you to give Him anything that you are going to gripeabout. God can't stand "Christian griping." It's an insult to Him. Even I hate itwhen people gripe about what they have done for me. It makes me feel stupidand foolish. Who asked them to do it, anyhow?

If there's something you just don't want to do, don't do it. Don't go out and dosome magnanimous deed and then gripe and complain about it. You would bebetter off to do nothing.

Leave the calling to those who love to do it. There are people who are thrilled totalk to strangers. They get bored just sitting at home and they can't wait tostrike up conversations with people they've never met. That is their nature. It'snatural for them - and that is the key.

When it is natural it is in the realm of fruit; when it's pressured it is in the realmof works. God always equips us to do whatever He has called us to do, and it willbe natural for us to do it.

Many people feel like second-rate Christians because they can't do what otherscan. They run into a believer who says, "This past week, praise the Lord, Iwitnessed to five people and all five of them received Jesus." Oh man, thinks theperson not blessed with the gift of evangelism, I am a horrible witness to theLord. I didn't witness to anybody. I am such a failure. He is made to feel guiltybecause he wasn't out collaring people and asking them if they knew the fourspiritual laws.

Why are some people so effective in evangelism? Because it is natural for them.God has endowed and equipped them for the work. Not everybody in the body isthe mouth, however, and the mouth couldn't operate effectively unless there wasa brain behind it and feet to carry it where it needed to go. We should not feelguilty because we do not have the same ministry or effectiveness as others. Thebody works as a unit, and God is the one who has assigned each of us our placein the body.

God wants you to do what He has naturally endowed you to do. The fruit of theChristian life blossoms from you naturally as you abide in Jesus Christ throughyour faith in Him. Jesus said, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear muchfruit" (John 15:8). God wants you to be extremely fruitful for Him. That fruit cancome forth only as you abide in Christ - and that is a position of faith.

No Such Thing as Fleshly Faith

Matthew's Gospel tells us that one day many people will come to Jesus, tellingHim of all the works they did for Him, and the Master will reply, "I never knewyou" (Matthew 7:23). The Lord doesn't recognize works of the flesh; He neverhas.

Remember when God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only sonIsaac... and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains whichI will tell thee of" (Genesis 22:2)? The Lord's comment sounds a little odd - afterall, Abraham did have another son, Ishmael, who was at least 14 years olderthan Isaac. What did God mean, "Take now thy son, thine only son"?

The answer is, Ishmael was a work of the flesh. He was not the son of promise;he was not the son of faith. Ishmael was a product of the flesh. God refused to

recognize Ishmael because he was the work of the flesh. God recognized only Hiswork of the Spirit, Isaac, the child of faith. Therefore He said to Abraham, "Takenow thy son, thine only son Isaac."

God never recognizes or rewards the works of our flesh. On the other hand, Hejealously desires that the fruit of the Spirit be increasingly characteristic of ourlives.

The fifteenth chapter of John explains how believers bear fruit. Jesus said, 'Abidein me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide inthe vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me" (John 15:4). Jesus placed theemphasis not upon what we do, but upon what we are. What comes forth fromour lives is the result of our relationship with Him. We can't have a true, rightrelationship with the Lord without bringing forth fruit. If there is no fruit - for "bytheir fruits ye shall know them" - then we had better reexamine our relationship.

Renegade Fruit Inspectors

God did a marvelous work in your fife by His Holy Spirit. When you were still asinner, God loved you. And when by faith you called out to Him, He justified youof every wrong thing you had ever done. God wiped your slate clean. Heobliterated the past so thoroughly that He made it as though it never existed.That is what the term "justified" means.

The moment you received Jesus Christ by faith - before you paid one pennytithe, before you did one thing - God took all of the black marks against you andwiped them out. Because of your simple belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior andLord, God justified you of all your past. Because of your belief, God imputed toyour account the righteousness of Jesus. Your relationship with Him began bybelieving.

This is all very basic, but somehow we often forget it. Sometimes believerscriticize other believers or find fault. They say, "Do you know what they aredoing? This is terrible. They call themselves Christians, yet they are doing thisand that. They are not living up to the standard - why, they even go down to thebeach. That is horrible!"

Now, what are such believers doing? They have set themselves up as judges.They have become renegade fruit inspectors. They are judging the quality ofanother man's servant. Paul had something to say about that; he wrote, "Whoart thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth orfalleth" (Romans 14:4).

It is much easier to please God than man. To please God, we only need tobelieve in Him and trust in Him. That is the gospel of grace.

If you were serving me, I might judge your service. I might say, "You are a lousyservant. I don't know why I keep you around." If you were doing something thatdispleased me, I would be the one to tell you, "Look, I don't like the way you'redrying the dishes; you are leaving too much water on them and you're putting

them away still wet. I don't like to get a glass out of the cupboard that still hasmoisture in it. That is where germs are bred. Now dry them completely."

On the other hand, I might say, "You are a wonderful servant. You do such greatwork! It is a pleasure to have you with me!" In either case, I would be the one tojudge your service, not an outsider.

The truth is, I am not your master and I can't direct how you are to serve. Youmust stand before your own master and I can't judge your service. I can't say,"What a lousy servant you are." I have no right to judge your service to God.God is the one you are serving, and before your master you either stand or fall.Paul goes on to say, "God is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:4).

Don't worry that some people can't see how you're ever going to make it. I havefound that God has been much easier to please than man. It is an exercise infutility to try to please everybody. Even if you manage it, someone is going tofault you because you are a people-pleaser. It's just not possible to pleaseeverybody.

What's beautiful is that we don't have to please everybody. All we have to do isplease God. And what do we have to do to please Him? Just believe in Him andtrust in Him. We don't please God by all of our works and feverish activities. Weplease God when we believe in Him and trust in Him. That is the gospel of grace.

It's My Pleasure!

Faith pleases the Lord and faith produces relationship. The relationship producesthe fruit. I don't just sit and be pure and holy and righteous and smile and besweet and show love all day long. I am caught up in activities, but activitieswhich are not work. It is fantastic to be able to say, "You know, I am doingexactly what I want to do; in fact, I'm doing what I love to do!" It isn't a work, itisn't a favor, it is simply something I enjoy.

Years ago when I served in a denomination I would go to conventions and seesome of my buddies. We would go out for dinner and I would start talking abouta scripture that the Lord had opened up to my heart. "Oh, come on, Smith -shop talk," they'd say, and change the subject. I would reply, "What do youmean, 'shop talk'? This is my life! There is nothing I would rather talk about.There is nothing more exciting to discuss."

When you are doing what you love to do, it is not a work. You are not in a shop.You are not laboring in a factory. Your activity is the fruit of relationship.

When the love of God fills your heart, all you want to do is talk about Him: HisWord, His goodness, His love. You don't go around looking for brownie pointsjust because you have been doing what you like to do. You don't look to berewarded for what is natural to you (even though God will reward you for thefruit that comes forth from your life). You do it because you want to do it,because it is your nature to do it, because God has put it in your heart to do it.The fact is, you feel as if you would die if you didn't do it.

"For the love of Christ constraineth me," wrote Paul (II Corinthians 5:14). "Woeis unto me, if I preach not the gospel!" (I Corinthians 9:16).

I am sure all of us have had experiences like Jeremiah, who was thrown into adungeon for declaring the word of the Lord to Israel's kings. As he was sitting inthe dark he said, in effect, "That's it; I am through. God, here is my resignation.Don't ever ask me to speak in Your name again. I am not going to do it. Don'tlay Your word upon my heart anymore. Lord, I am through, I have resigned. DoYou understand? It is over. I'm never going to speak again in the name of theLord. You treat me like this and let me get thrown in a dungeon. You don't takecare of me. But it's all right; I am through!" (see Jeremiah 20:9).

Jeremiah was stewing. He was angry. Yet he soon confessed, "But his word wasin mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary withforbearing, and I could not stay" (verse 9). He could do nothing but speak. Hehad to speak. He didn't have to force himself as if it were a work; in fact, hetried to force himself not to speak, but spoke anyway. Why? It was natural; itwas the fruit of his relationship.

Griping Is Not a Fruit of the Spirit

God does not run factories; He grows gardens. He is not interested in yourworks; He desires to enjoy your fruit. He does not want you to depend upon yourflesh; He calls you to rely upon His Spirit.

As Paul reminds us, having begun in the Spirit, we cannot be made perfect in ourflesh (see Galatians 3:3). We cannot add works to our faith and improve therelationship, even though many people endeavor to do exactly that.

So many times people begin by believing in the Lord, loving the Lord, serving theLord, and having a glorious time. The joy of the Spirit is theirs. Then somebrethren show up and begin to lay heavy trips on them. "Hey brother, if you arereally a Christian, you need to be doing this. How come you guys are doing that?Man, you mean you guys call yourselves Christians? Why, you don't even dothis." They start laying down all of these heavy requirements so that Christianitybecomes a grind. It ceases to be natural and a delight and begins to be a chore,a job, a work.

When will we learn? We cannot improve on the righteousness given to us byGod. Any works-based relationship soon becomes a grind in which we lose thejoy of our relationship with the Lord. Suddenly it's a duty, an obligation, anonerous task. Before long, we begin griping. The joy of the Lord departs fromour walk. We no longer enjoy freedom, but labor under a yoke of bondage. Wethink, I had better say my prayers tonight, or I will really be in trouble. Oh, but Iam so tired. I don't want to get out of bed. I suppose I'll have to, but - oh, man,it's so cold!

I am sure God says, "Oh, shut up and go to sleep! Don't bother Me in that kindof a mood. Who asked you to call, anyway?"

You might think that if anyone should have mastered this lesson, it would beministers of the gospel. Yet there are men who would have us believe theyminister the things of the Spirit by the works of the flesh. They will describewhat great consecration it takes to have their kind of ministry - whattremendous personal sacrifices a person must make to have such power. Theywill tell of their commitment and their fasting and their consecration and will layit all out as though their works have achieved for them some level of spiritualitythat moved God to entrust them with His power. God can't trust everybody withthis power, they say, but they have earned it. Oftentimes they actually saythings like, "I went into the other room, closed the door, and said, 'God, I amnot going to come out of here until I have the power.' And I stayed in there andfasted and prayed until I got it." They speak as though their righteousnessearned them God's favor. But it didnít; it was only a work. And God will neverhonor or recognize a work of the flesh.

Paul said, "Have ye suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain. Hetherefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you,doeth it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:4,5). Atrue minister gives all the glory to the Lord. "Let your light so shine before men,"Jesus said, "that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, whichis in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

We're All Invited

The works of God are not wrought because of our righteousness. They arewrought by grace through faith. And that means that any of us can do them. Youdon't have to be some specially anointed kind of instrument.

Let your life be as a garden where God can come to enjoy the fruit you areproducing as you abide in Christ.

James says that Elijah was a man of passions just like us (see James 5:17). Hebecame discouraged, he got upset, he got angry, he blew it. Yet he prayed and itdidn't rain for three years. Elijah was not some superholy kind of prophet. Hewasn't a mystic. He was a person exactly like us, with the same kind of feelingswe have - the same kind of discouragements. Yet God listened to him because ofhis faith.

That same potential is yours. All it takes is believing the Lord and trusting inHim.

Since you've begun in the Spirit, you must continue in the Spirit. Having begunin faith, you must continue in faith. Don't degenerate into works; don't let yourChristian experience become a bore. Don't become a factory worker, but let yourlife be as a garden where God can come to enjoy the fruit you are producing asyou abide in Christ by faith.

7. Believing for the Blessings

Some mistakes just won't go away, Consider the error that tripped up the churchat Galatia some 2,000 years ago. Somehow, it's still going strong today. Despitewhat Paul said about it, to this day a lot of teachers promote the idea that theHoly Spirit is received by the works of the law. How tragic it is that one of thegreatest stumbling blocks to experiencing the fullness of God's blessing andpower is a doctrine picked up in church! We hear that if we want the Holy Spiritto come into our lives, we had better clean up our act. We must get rid of everybit of impurity in order to be worthy of blessing.

Although such teaching is very sincere, it is sincerely wrong. The essence of suchpreaching is that we must be made righteous by our own conduct and efforts,and only then might God condescend to touch us. It was this same misguidedteaching that kept me from receiving God's best for so many years.

Faithful but Frustrated

As a child growing up in a Pentecostal church, I earnestly desired what wastermed the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I went to many "tarrying meetings" andquite often accompanied my father to the Saturday night men's prayer meetings.There I would wait upon the Lord and pray that God would fill my life with Hispower.

I dearly loved the Lord and I desired all of the power of God that I could possiblyobtain. But something was getting in the way. For many years I thought somesecret sin was holding me back. And it was - but not at all the kind of sin Iimagined. My problem was not lust, or greed, or some all-consuming habit. Myproblem was self-righteousness.

You may think it strange that someone so young would struggle with spiritualpride, but I did. I memorized Scripture. I could recite the books of the Bible andspell them. I could quote entire chapters of God's Word. I never went to a show.I never smoked a cigarette. I never went to dances. The church I attendedtaught that all of these things were sinful, so I avoided them religiously.

Many times I saw the preacher's son pick up cigarette butts and smoke them,but I wouldn't do it. My other buddies in church might go to the matinee everySaturday, but I never would. I was going to be holy.

Then what was so terribly wrong? God was blessing my buddies, even when theywere smoking cigarette butts! Lord, You know I am more righteous than theyare, I thought. I've never done any of those evil things. Why bless them and notme? I had a terrible struggle.

It got worse when I heard people give testimonies of how they were waiting forthe filling of the Holy Spirit. As they waited upon God, the Lord showed them thepack of cigarettes in their pocket. The moment they pulled out the cigarettes andlaid them on the altar, God apparently filled them with the Holy Spirit.

I was trying to earn God's blessing, but I was never good enough. It neveroccurred to me to just ask God in simple faith.

Perhaps my problem was that I never had a pack of cigarettes in my pocket tobe lain on the altar. So instead I would mentally list my sins from that week andthink, Now Lord, I got mad at my brother this week. Lord, please forgive me forgetting mad. Then I would wait for Him to fill me with the Spirit. But He didn't.

Countless times I heard speakers say, "You know God won't fill an uncleanvessel. He is the Holy Spirit. Therefore you must be a holy vessel." So I would domy best to be holy. I confessed to God everything I could think of (and evensome things that I never did, just in case).

I would rake over the coals of my conscience time and again. I committed andrecommitted my life to God. I gave up every small, questionable activity I couldfind and sacrificed precious things I loved, all in a futile effort to become holyand righteous enough for God's Spirit to fill my life. I was frustrated and stifledin my walk with Christ.

Finally in desperation I said, 'All right Lord, I will go to China as a missionary.Please fill me with your Holy Spirit." He didn't. I promised the Lord that I wouldgo to China, Africa, South America, and India. Still He didn't.

All that time I was endeavoring to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit by works -by becoming righteous through keeping the standards I had set up. I was tryingto receive the Spirit by the works of the law. I tried every trick I knew, earnestlyhungering and desiring to be filled by God and to receive His gifts. I don't knowhow many nights I agonized before Him, wondering why He never blessed me.

I was convinced some righteous plateau had to be reached before God wouldbless me. I believed that the moment I could achieve that high plateau, the HolySpirit would fill me. And yet I was troubled by what I saw happening around me.How could people come off of the street and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior,stinking of booze and nicotine, and be baptized in the Holy Spirit right then andthere? Yet they were.

It just wasn't fair. Here I had been walking with the Lord, serving Him all theway along, and they got blessed and I didn't. I couldn't understand thediscrepancies of God. It was impossible for me to harmonize the teaching I hadreceived with what I saw happening.

If only I had understood God's grace! I would not have waited all those years toreceive the empowering of the Holy Spirit. As I began to read and understandthe Word of God, eventually I came to the text where Paul asks, "Received yethe Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2).Suddenly I realized this was a rhetorical question. The obvious answer was thatthey had received the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith.

I was flabbergasted. I had never been taught such a thing. I had been trying onmy own to become holy enough or righteous enough, but of course I never

managed to become good enough to earn the filling of the Holy Spirit. It neveroccurred to me to ask in simple faith. I was sure God needed my help.

That day I put aside all my self-righteous efforts and simply said, "Lord, I amgoing to receive from you now the gift of your Holy Spirit." And I did, at thatvery moment. Stupid me! I thought. I could have had this years ago if only I hadknown. If only I had been taught!

Oh, what I lost in those lean years because of a teaching that emphasizedobedience to rules and codes! We receive the indwelling, filling, and empoweringof the Holy Spirit by trusting and believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord andSavior, not by keeping some external code. That is why I repeat this simple yetpowerful message over and over, emphasizing God's grace, love, mercy, andgoodness to us undeserving sinners.

Blessings for the Taking

Once I began to understand the Word, I saw that it wasn't my righteousness orability to reach some plateau of holiness that makes me worthy of God'sblessing. God blesses me when I simply trust in Him for His blessings. The longerI live, the more I realize how undeserving and unworthy I am of God's touch. Hewants to bless me not because I am good and holy and pure, but because that isHis nature. He enjoys blessing His children.

Did you know there is only one thing holding back God's blessings from your life?They're not withheld because you haven't been faithful in your devotions thisweek. They're not kept back because you've failed in some area of your life.Everyone fails. The only thing holding back God's blessings in your life is yourown refusal to trust Him for those blessings. The blessings of God are availableto anyone who simply believes Him and trusts Him for those blessings.

Don't come to God on the basis of your own righteousness or goodness. You'd bea fool to want to rob the Lord of the good work He wants to do in your life! Theonly attitude acceptable to Him says, "I'm a failure and I don't deserve it - butplease, Lord, go ahead and bless me anyway."

Once I realized that the blessings of God were mine through simple faith in Him,I came to experience His blessing ever since. I have been given so much andreceived so much from God that it is impossible to keep track of all the blessings.I have come to a door that is never closed. When I was coming in my ownrighteousness, the door was closed most of the time. But now that I come toGod on the basis of His love, that door is never closed.

God always loves us. His love for us doesn't change from day to day. He doesn'tlove us more today than He loved us yesterday. God's love isn't like that. God'slove for us is constant; it never varies. His love for us is not predicated upon us;it is predicated upon Him and His nature of love.

God is love. He loves you and keeps loving you even when you are a rank sinner.Even when you were rebelling against Him, shaking your fist in His face and

saying, "I hate you, God!" He loved you then. And He loves you now. BecauseGod loves us, He wants to bless us. His blessings are not dependent upon ourgoodness, our righteousness, or our faithfulness. The blessings of God dependsolely upon His desire to bless us. Our part is simply to receive and believe Himfor His blessings. Remember Paul's rhetorical question? "Received ye the Spiritby the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" Did you become sorighteous that God finally decided, "Well, he is righteous enough now, so I guessI will have to fill him"? No! We are no more righteous now than the first day webelieved.

You can't imagine the blessing and power that God is eager to impart to you ifyou will just believe and trust Him for it. We are so often like the foolishGalatians. Why would we be so foolish as to return to a legal relationship whenwe can relate to God in a love relationship? Don't be a fool and demand whatyou think you deserve, because you deserve death. All of us do, for all of us sin.

God wants to bless you now because He loves you. God wants to bless your life,and the avenue to that blessing is your faith.

You Can't Mean Me!

Some of you reading this may believe that God can't possibly bless you becauseyou have failed Him too much or because you are too weak or because you havedone something terribly wrong. Perhaps you have a chronic problem with a viletemper or a wandering eye. You wonder, How can God bless me when I yell atmy kids? How can God bless me when I am so rotten? How can God bless mewhen I am this or that? Your problem is that you are looking for a blessing onthe basis of your own performance. You are trapped in the kind of thinking thatsays, "When I become so good and so perfect, then He can bless me."

But that is so misguided!

We must get it into our heads that God wants to fill our lives with the Holy Spiritthe moment we say, "Lord, I really desire to have this power and I ask You to fillme."

But I must warn you. It is undeniable that at precisely this point, spiritualwarfare erupts. When you pray for God's filling, instantly Satan will begin tothrow all kinds of lies and accusations into your mind. He will distract you. Hewill make you feel guilty or unworthy. "What are you doing, asking God forthat?" he'll sneer. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You have no right! Lookat what you are. Look what you have done. How could God possibly fill you withHis Holy Spirit?"

Ironically, many times Satan will use Christian people to deliver this lie. Anyperson on a self-righteous trip will inevitably heap blame on you. "It's your ownfault, you know," he'll announce. "If only you had a little more faith. If only youwere a little more spiritual. If only you were a little more like me." A little of suchspiritual bombardment, and many of us decide to retract the whole thing."Forget it, Lord," we say.

God wants you to experience His love, His touch, His power, and His anointing.

What a tragedy! I know I don't deserve the blessings of God, but God doesn'tbless me because I deserve it. God blesses me on the basis of His love towardme and of His grace toward me in Christ Jesus. That is the basis of the blessing -not my goodness, not my righteousness, and not my perfection. If we could justget this through our tender skulls, we'd start being blessed like we can't imagine.

The blessings are there. God wants to bless you. An you have to do is simplybelieve Him to bless you, though you know full well you don't deserve it. Theblessings don't come because of your works, they come because of your belief -because you trust and believe God will bless you.

Failure to grasp this truth is exactly why a lot of people have real problems intheir Christian experience. "I don't know why God has blessed him he smokescigars!" someone says. "Why, I don't do that. Yet look at all his blessings! I can'tunderstand why God blesses people who smoke cigars." But of course, God'sblessings are not predicated on smoking habits. They're only predicated upon ourbelieving God to bless us because we are God's children.

God wants to bless His people today. The eyes of the Lord go to and frothroughout the entire earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whosehearts are perfect toward Him (see II Chronicles 16:9). Just turn your hearttoward God, believe in His Word, and trust that He will do as He promises. Say,"Lord, bless me now." And receive it.

I know that such freewheeling grace is almost an affront to us. The moment Isay, "Oh, Lord, lay a real blessing on me. I really want a fantastic blessingtonight," my mind objects: What do you mean, asking God for a blessing? Withwhat you were thinking this afternoon, how can you ask God to bless you?

It is so hard for us to repudiate the idea of deserving a blessing. Simply tobelieve and expect God to bless us - though we have been failures and don'tdeserve it - is extremely difficult for us. But when we finally get over that barrierand come to expect God to bless us simply because He has promised to bless us,there is nothing that can stop His blessings from touching our lives.

The Blessings of Abraham

And what blessings they are! The same blessings which God promised toAbraham are ours because we are children of Abraham. Listen to just three ofthe promised blessings:

ï "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" (Genesis15:1).ï "I will make thee exceeding fruitful" (Genesis 17:6).ï "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee intheir generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thyseed after thee" (Genesis 17:7).

All these blessings, and more, are yours. Because God sees you in Christ, therighteousness of Jesus is imparted to you. That and that alone is the basis uponwhich God blesses you, thoroughly and completely.

The gospel of grace insists that even though you don't deserve it, God wants youto experience His love, His touch, His power, and His anointing. God has given toeach person a measure of faith. Exercise it, use it, and it will develop. Justsimply believe, trust in the Lord, and expect God to bless you.

Never forget that the blessing of God's Spirit in our lives is not granted to usbecause one day we became holy enough to deserve His blessing. It came to uswhen at last we saw the light and simply believed God to keep His Word. Ourworks of righteousness had nothing to do with it.

God's ways haven't changed a bit. The blessing of Abraham comes to us allthrough simple faith in our Lord Jesus. Our part is merely to believe Him for Hisblessings.

And, come to think of it - that's quite a blessing in itself.

8. The Struggle Begins

Not long ago I received a letter from a young man who told me of his intensestruggles with the flesh. He described his discouraging track record of defeatafter defeat, almost echoing Paul's cry in Romans 7:24: "O wretched man that Iam! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

It was easy for me to relate to his experience. All of us have suffered throughsimilar tough times in our walk with the Lord. Although we long for a life thatpleases God, the power of the flesh proves too much for us and we fail.

Throughout the history of the church, men have searched for ways to get theflesh under control. There was a time when many Christians believed that theonly way to achieve victory was to lock themselves in a closet at a monastery.They would deny themselves contact with anything or anyone who could possiblymake them stumble. But even a casual look at the diaries they left behind showsthat isolation didn't help.

Jerome, the famous theologian of the early church, lived for many years in aroom that amounted to little more than a cage. His only contact with the outsideworld was a tiny window through which he would receive his meals. He closedhimself off from everything and everybody in order that he might give himselftotally to the study of God's Word, meditation, and prayer. But his personaljournals record that the strictness of his lifestyle and the thickness of thesurrounding walls didn't keep a barrage of horrible thoughts, imaginations, andfantasies away from his mind as he sat in his dark little cubicle.

Our help doesn't come until we realize the answer is far beyond our ownresources. Crying out to God is the secret to our deliverance.

The flesh is a terribly strong enemy. Some Christians fight a losing battle withthe flesh their entire walk with the Lord. They feel like the Israelites, whoperished in the wilderness without ever entering into God's rest.

Why do such believers never enjoy God's victory? It's simple: they spend alltheir effort and energy trying to live a godly life in their own strength. Instead ofturning their lives and struggles over to God, they keep searching for some newtechnique, some new method, some new program for righteousness. And noneof them ever work.

As long as any of us try to deliver ourselves from "the body of this death" bydesperately searching for another program or a formula to guide our efforts, wewill fail. Our help doesn't come until we realize the answer is far beyond our ownresources. Amazingly, crying out to God in weakness is the secret to ourdeliverance.

Not Another Self-Improvement Program

Our total powerlessness is a difficult thing for most of us to admit. We like tothink of ourselves as strong, capable people, able to handle our own affairs. Howmany times have we started some self-improvement program, convinced that ifwe would just set our minds to it, we could easily lose a few pounds or get backin shape or eliminate a bothersome habit? But the sad fact is that as long as wethink we can change our own lives by our own power, we never will.

One of the greatest barriers to growth in the Christian life is the notion that wecan live a life that pleases God by our own efforts. If we think we can do this, wewill try to take credit for it. "See, putting away that bad habit wasn't so hard! Iknew I could do it!" At that point we are not giving God glory, but writing asuccess story with ourselves as the star. We begin telling others how our formulawill work for them as well, and God becomes further and further removed fromthe picture. Predictably, despite our great self-confidence, the first wind oftragedy or disappointment causes our whole house of cards to come crashingdown around our ears.

God will allow us to follow these self-help, self-improvement programs until wehave tried them all. He will allow us to play out our own efforts until we finallycome to the honest confession, "I can't do it. I can't be righteous in my ownstrength. Oh, wretched man that I am!" Such honesty is extremely difficult for usbecause it forces us to admit our own inability, failure, and weakness. We hateto come to these conclusions because they repudiate our pride.

It is only when we admit our utter powerlessness, however, that we find hope.When we finally turn to the grace of God, the Lord intervenes and begins to do awork that we could not do for ourselves. It is not until we find ourselves drivenby desperation to a cry of helplessness and hopelessness that we begin to enjoyreal victory in Christ.

The Struggle Begins

In one sense, the fact that a battle exists at all is a real cause for rejoicing. If wehadn't been made alive spiritually by God, there would be no conflict. If my spiritwere still dead in trespasses and sins, I wouldn't be struggling with evil desires. Iwould dive right in and live after the flesh. The fact that we find ourselves in thisfight is strong proof that we are indeed children of God.

And we are in a fight. Who can deny there is a ferocious battle going on insideeach of us? In Galatians 5:17 the apostle Paul tells us, "For the flesh lustethagainst the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary theone to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

Peter knew all about this struggle. At one time the burly fisherman boasted toJesus that even if all the other disciples fled, he would not. Yet before the nightwas out he denied his Lord three times. Jesus had been right all along: the spiritis willing, but the flesh is weak.

Like Peter, we oftentimes react impulsively before we can get a grip onourselves. We want to do right but find ourselves doing wrong. As Paul wrote, "Ifind then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delightin the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members,warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law ofsin which is in my members" (Romans 7:21-23).

We cannot know God's victory until we realize a war for control is constantlybeing waged within our members between the Holy Spirit and our flesh. Ourflesh is not yet dead. Although we began to taste and enjoy the benefits of theSpirit when we committed our lives to Christ and although the fleshly nature wastaken off the throne of our lives, the battle is not yet over. Before our conversionthe flesh enjoyed dominating and controlling our lives, and until our bodies areredeemed, it will never give up its struggle to bring us back under its power.

Are Our Desires Wrong?

It is important at this point that we not make the mistake of thinking that ourbodily drives and appetites themselves are evil. Our bodily desires were createdby God and are absolutely necessary for sustaining life.

The strongest of all fleshly desires is our drive for air. There is nothing wrongwith breathing, but it is possible to twist this natural function and use it to inhalecocaine. In so doing we take a natural, God-given function and pervert it to anunnatural end. The Bible calls that "sin."

Second only to the drive for air is our body's craving for moisture. There isnothing at all wrong with thirst, until we decide to quench it by sitting in a barthrowing down drinks until we can barely see straight. Again, we take a naturaldrive and use it for a purpose other than that for which God intended.

Our next strongest drive is hunger. There is nothing ungodly about eating, untilwe become so consumed with food that it begins to affect our health. Normallywe associate an abuse of our natural desire for food with gluttony, yet equallyharmful is the obsession some have with being thin. They live to count caloriesand compulsively exercise themselves into the ground. This, too, is sin.

The sex drive was created by God not only for procreation but also as a beautifulexpression of mutual love between a husband and wife. But when we take thisdrive and make a pleasure toy out of it, love is no longer the focus and itbecomes wrong.

Do you see how the twisting of all these beautiful, God-given drives for selfishgain becomes a thing that wars against the Spirit? All these bodily appetiteswere given to us by God, but He never intended that any of them should ruleover us. They are a necessary part of life, but He did not design for them todominate our lives.

Jesus said that if all we think about is what we're going to eat, drink, or wear,then there is no difference between ourselves and pagans (see Matthew6:31,32). A person who doesn't know God can do nothing other than pursuebodily drives, but we believers know that life is more than food and the bodymore than clothes. The desires of our flesh are proper and right in their place,but were never intended by God to rule over us. Yet in our fallen state, thebodily appetites do seek to rule our lives. This is where the struggle begins.

The Master's Battle Plan

At this point the question arises, So, then, what are we to do with the flesh? Godhas made a provision for the flesh. He calls it "the cross."

Don't try to redeem the flesh or dress it up in spiritual trappings or reform it. Itis not redeemable. It must be crucified. Paul stated, "Knowing this, that our oldman [the old nature dominated by the flesh] is crucified with him, that the bodyof sin [our fallen nature that wants to rule] might be destroyed, that henceforthwe should not serve sin" (Romans 6:6).

The biblical prescription for resolving the conflict between flesh and Spirit is notpersonal discipline or self-control. It is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our job is to recognize this as truth. If the desires of the flesh were not still afactor in our lives, we would have no need to reckon that the old nature diedwith Christ. Whenever we encounter an area of the flesh that still controls us, weneed to honestly acknowledge that the battle of the flesh and the Spirit remainsin us. We need then to bring the specific area of weakness to the cross andreckon it crucified.

Yet that's only the first step! The biblical prescription for resolving the conflictbetween flesh and Spirit is not personal discipline or self-control. Power over theflesh comes only through a Spirit-controlled life. Although the conflict will be withus for as long as we live in these bodies, God provides us with the resources for

spiritual victory. When we allow the Spirit of God to take over and work stronglyin our lives, we can triumph over our fallen nature.

Any endeavor at sanctification attempted on our own is by definition a fleshlyeffort. When Paul was brought to the point of desperation and cried out, "Owretched man that I am!" He did not ask, "How can I find a strategy to do betternext time? How can I try harder so I get more satisfactory results?" Paul hadalready gone down that road to futility. He realized that the power to live a godlylife did not reside in him. He saw he needed a Deliverer and thus he cried, "Whoshall deliver me?"

When Jesus awakens our spirit, He also gives us a new set of desires. We beginto long for intimate fellowship with God, a deeper knowledge and comprehensionof His Word, and closer communion with others who are alive in Christ Jesus. Weno longer desire to live after the flesh because we have come to realize that theend of such things is frustration and death. Living for the flesh always compelledus to reach out for something more, something just beyond our grasp,something that would finally bring a sense of lasting satisfaction. Yet thepromised fulfillment always eluded us.

As we live after the Spirit, however, we discover a peace the world can'tunderstand. The endless struggle - the aching emptiness - is gone and wediscover a wonderful sense of purpose and meaning. The flesh no longer has theallure it once did and the battle inside us is won.

Spiritual Mind Games

Whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not, there is a kind of perverselaw at work within us that whenever we would do good, evil is present within.Paul accurately describes the often bewildering conflict that is so much a part ofour lives: "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; butwhat I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the lawthat it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me"(Romans 7:15-17).

Consider how we deal with one of the simplest, most direct commands inScripture. Jesus said in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you, Thatye love one another." John later tells us that if we say we love God and yet hateour brother, we are liars (I John 4:20). If we can't love our neighbor whom wehave seen, John wonders, how can we love God whom we have not seen?

Enter our problem: Since the Bible so clearly forbids out-and-out hatred of aperson, sometimes we try to soften the issue by saying, "Well, I don't hate him,I just hate the nasty things he does." But if we are honest, we must admit it isawfully hard to separate an individual from his actions. I, for one, have a difficulttime making such a fine distinction. I find myself not only hating what a wickedman does, but him as well. If I hear that something unpleasant happened to him- like smashing up his new car in a traffic accident - I find myself inwardlyrejoicing. I know the Bible says my attitude should be different, but it honestlyisn't.

Oftentimes we end up playing mind games to convince ourselves that we arereally obeying God and loving those who are unlovely. If we try hard enough, wecan convince ourselves that we really do love and forgive. Yet the truth of ourinward state becomes clear when that difficult person comes around, slaps us onthe back, and with a loud voice announces to the entire room, "Gee, brother, Iguess you didn't have time to use your deodorant this morning!" Our firstreaction is to think, You idiot! Now everyone is turning around and staring at me.Why don't you just drop dead, creep! We really want to love this person, but ourflesh won't allow us to!

Like Paul, we find an ironic law at work within us. Whenever we want to do good,evil is present. We end up getting frustrated with ourselves, sick of our failures,and overwhelmed with discouragement. We feel a profound sense of spiritualdefeat and along with Paul cry out, "O wretched man that I am! Who shalldeliver me from the body of this death?"

No Cause to Boast

Only when we admit that we are incapable of delivering ourselves from the lawof sin and death can the doors be opened for the glorious power of God to workwithin us and do for us what we are incapable of doing for ourselves. As thepower of God transforms us from the inside out, all we can do is give thanks andglory to God. We are unable to say to others, "I used to be involved with sin. Butone day, I determined that Jesus didn't like it, so I mustered up my willpowerand discipline and decided I just wouldn't do those things anymore." There is noroom for boasting about what fine, self-controlled people we are. As theScriptures declare, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our LordJesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14).

Have you ever run into people who seemed more spiritual than they actuallywere? A dead giveaway of this kind of insincerity comes when someone speaksof a spiritual struggle. If a person admits having a battle with the flesh, these"spiritual" people immediately put a self-righteous, holier-than-thou expressionon their faces. Without saying a word, they communicate that fighting with theflesh is some terrible abnormality for a believer. "Why, if you just prayed more,and spent more time in the Word, and were spiritually minded (like us), youwouldn't have any problem with your flesh."

While such attitudes of superspiritual perfectionism are very common, they donítline up with the clear teaching of Scripture. I don't believe we will everexperience a time, while we live here on earth, when we won't have a problemwith these fleshly bodies. I know through long experience that my own flesh canbe just as troublesome as it ever was.

When God reveals to me an area of the flesh He wants to change, for example, Ialways start out with the best of intentions. I see the ugliness of my sin and vowthat I will never fall in that manner again. And so I come up with variousdisciplines and strategies to deal with the problem. I seek out all kinds of adviceon how to practically deal with the situation. But sooner or later I watch all my

best-laid plans fall apart. I get so frustrated that I cry out, "God, help me!" Andthen amazingly enough, He does. His Spirit miraculously begins to transform mylife.

As I overflow with gratitude, I see how God's way of transformation is sowonderfully simple and yet much better than my own misguided efforts. I findmyself shaking my head and saying, "When will I ever understand this simpleconcept of grace?" How could I ever imagine that, somewhere down the line, Icould do something worthwhile and prove to God that I'm not a total wretch? YetI do imagine it.

God never intended that the flesh rule over us, and He has provided theresources and the power for us to experience victory. But as long as we arecommitted to trying to work out our own struggles, even our best efforts get inthe way. Any attempt at godliness that arises from our own strength is a work ofthe flesh and is just as detestable in God's sight as the thing we are trying not todo. When our victory comes from God's intervention alone, outside of our ownresources, the end result is glory and praise unto God.

A Trap to Avoid

In those moments when we feel close to the Lord, it is tempting to say, "This isso beautiful, I am never going to live after the flesh again, for that is so pointlessand empty!" Unfortunately, however, tomorrow comes and we forget all aboutour good intentions. As we drag ourselves to bed at the end of a long andfrustrating day, it suddenly dawns on us that despite our best efforts, wewandered away, did our own thing, and were controlled by the flesh. Much to oursurprise, our flesh grabbed the reins once more and we found ourselves doingwhat we promised we would never do again.

It is at that moment that we often make our biggest mistake. We begin blamingand condemning ourselves and vow that we are going to try harder next time.Do you see the problem? As soon as we make such promises, we have decidedto invest confidence in our flesh. We are saying that our own efforts will make usspiritually strong and we have stepped back into the realm of the flesh. LikePeter, we are saying, "I will never deny you!"

Many of us grow intensely frustrated when it seems we are continually fightingthe same battles over and over. Yet this shouldn't surprise us. All of us gothrough a predictable set of steps in which we first must come to the end of ourrope and realize that in our own strength we can't live in a way that pleases God.We cry out to God in desperation, and He works His gracious deliverance. Iwould like to think that there is some way in which I might not have to hitbottom so regularly; but unfortunately, I have yet to discover it.

From the Inside Out

In His grace, God has made it possible for us to enjoy consistent victory. Still,this side of heaven, the battle never ends. Each day presents the choice we each

must make. Will we live for the desires of the flesh, or will we yield our lives tothe transforming power of the Spirit of God?

How glorious it is to come to the end of our resources and to see God change ourlives by His grace! Our only boast as believers is in the finished work of JesusChrist on our behalf. If it were not for the cross, we would all be hopelessly lostforever. But because of God's great love for us, we who were formerly lost havebeen saved and baptized into Christ.

We can now have such a wonderful relationship with God that it is no longer wewho live, but Christ lives in us. The life we now live, we live by faith in the Son ofGod, who loved us and gave Himself for us. Because of God's grace, each of usare now a new creation in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away; everythinghas become new.

When we become children of God, the spiritual side of us comes alive. Wesuddenly realize that there is more to life than obeying the instincts of the flesh.We come to understand that the inner hunger which our flesh could never satisfycan be fulfilled in a loving relationship with God. The more we come to knowGod, the more we experience His peace and joy and discover that the level ofsatisfaction we encounter in the Spirit is limitlessly beyond the narrow spectrumof the flesh.

How beautiful it is when we let go of our own futile efforts and allow the Spirit towork! For His Victory comes from the inside out, not the outside in. And that'sthe kind of victory that lasts.

9. Free Indeed!

No one in the world is truly as free as a believer in Jesus Christ. As Paul said inGalatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made usfree, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Freedom means a state of free moral agency - the capacity to make real choicesin life. While believers are truly free, it is wrong to use that term to describe asinner. The sinner has only one true choice - whether to put his or her faith inJesus. He is in such bondage to his flesh that he cannot stop what he is doing.

Many people today do evil things without knowing why they do them. They say,"I hate it; I don't want to do it; I don't understand why I do it. I hate myself fordoing it, but I do it anyway." They are bound and held by a power - the power ofSatan.

Before we came to Christ, all of us were children of wrath and our whole mannerof life was spent trying to fulfill the desires of the flesh and mind (see Ephesians2:3). Our only option was which manner of bondage we would choose. Weweren't free moral agents because we had no capacity to turn from sin. We

might exchange one form of ungodliness for another, but we were incapable ofliving righteously. There is no freedom to be found in such a dreadful condition.

To remain free, we must not exercise our liberty in any area that will bring usback under bondage.

What a contrast to the glorious liberty we have been given in Christ Jesus! Asrecipients of God's love and forgiveness, we have been granted freedom fromthe domination of our flesh. We no longer have to live as slaves to our ownfleshly desires. We have been granted the capacity to turn from sin to serve andworship God. We have been set free from the chains of darkness that held us inbondage. Through our believing and trusting in Jesus Christ, we are free fromhaving to live according to a standard of the law in order to be accepted by God.As children of God, we have a taste of liberty and freedom like nothing we haveever known.

We are free in Christ, and the extent of our liberty is so vast that Paul could say,'All things are lawful for me" (I Corinthians 10:23). There is no broader ethiccontained in any philosophy in the world. In fact, the man who can say, "Allthings are lawful for me" is the freest man who ever lived.

But Paul also insisted that while all things are lawful for us, "all things are notexpedient" (verse 23). That is, although there are areas of freedom we couldpursue that wouldn't put our salvation in jeopardy, they would impede ourprogress in our walk with God. We are to avoid areas that would distract us froma simple, wholehearted devotion to God. If we are to remain free, we must becareful not to exercise our liberty in any area that will bring us back underbondage.

Freedom Badly Used

So many times people misunderstand Christian liberty, thinking that freedom inChrist means they can freely commit all kinds of sin. They use their freedom asan occasion for the flesh. This is a total perversion of what Scripture teachesabout Christian liberty. Our liberty is never a freedom to sin freely; it is never alicense to sin.

The glorious liberty we have been called to in Christ Jesus is first of all a freedomfrom our flesh and the domination that our flesh once held over us. In Romans 6,Paul tells us this freedom in Christ is a freedom to serve and worship God. Weare free not to live the sinful, sensual kind of life that we once lived.

In Eden, Adam was granted tremendous freedom. He could eat from any tree inthe garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God knew fromthe beginning that Adam would disobey His command, eat from the forbiddentree, and thus bring sin and misery into the world. Even so, God did notphysically prevent Adam from eating the fruit. Adam misused his freedom andwe suffer the catastrophic consequences of his choice today. Sin came into theworld through one man's wrong exercise of freedom.

In like manner, we can choose to make wrong use of our freedom in Christ. It ispossible for us to take this glorious freedom and exercise it in such a way thatwe are brought back into bondage. We have all heard people say things like,"Well, as a Christian I am free. Thus I intend to gratify this impulse of my fleshbecause I have freedom to do so." We must remember that we also havefreedom not to do so. We should never use our freedom as an occasion for ourflesh - to yield to its impulses. Hebrews 12:1,2 tells us to "lay aside everyweight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us," and to "run with patience therace that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of ourfaith."

Freedom to Serve

It's clear how we should not use our freedom in Christ. The real question is, Howshould we use it? How can we use our freedom in a way that honors God andhelps us to grow in grace? Paul had the answer in Galatians 5:13. He said weshould use our freedom to serve one another in love: "For, brethren, ye havebeen called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but bylove serve one another." Scripture constantly reminds us of the high value Godplaces on humble servitude.

Over and over, the Bible reminds us that if we want to be really great in God'skingdom, we must serve. Jesus made a magnificent statement to His disciples atthe beginning of what we call the Great Commission. He said, 'All power is givenunto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). Can you imagine how muchpower that must be? All the power of the universe was given to Him. The samepower that lit the fires of the stars and holds every atom together belongs toJesus.

And what did He do with this power? Shake the universe? Spin out a few newgalaxies? No. Jesus took off His robe, girded Himself about as a servant, andwashed His disciples' feet. After He had washed the last dirty ankles and toes, Heasked His men, in effect, "Do you know what I have done? I have given you anexample. For if I, being your Lord, have served you, then so also ought you toserve one another" (see John 13:12-14).

What if right now you could say, 'All power in the universe is mine"? What wouldyou do with such power? Jesus took a towel and a basin of water and washed thefilthy feet of His disciples. All power in the universe was His - and what did He dowith it? He washed the disciples' feet.

There are very few of us who want to serve. Instead, we love to give orders andbe waited on. "Go get me that!" "Hand that tool to me." "I need you to go." Howwe love to give orders, and how we get upset when the orders arenít fulfilled!We get hurt, we pout. We enjoy being part of the ruling class... but God'sgreatest blessings are not to be found there. We have been set free not to bossothers around, but to serve one another in love.

Without question, this blessing requires a work of God's Spirit within our hearts.My flesh certainly rebels at the idea of serving someone else in love. Often my

immediate reaction to even the simplest request is, "If you want a glass ofwater, go get it yourself. Who was your slave yesterday?" My flesh loves to becatered to. It clamors to be served. But I have been set free from bondage to myflesh and now I can serve others in love. What a joy it is to serve in love! All ofthe law is encapsulated in one phrase: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"(Matthew 22:39).

Freedom to Love

Two hundred years before Jesus, Buddha said, "Don't do to others what youdon't want them to do to you." Notice he put it in the negative. If you don't wantsomeone to bust you in the nose', then don't bust him in the nose. It is anegative injunction.

The golden rule isn't merely avoiding wrong; it's actively seeking out practicalways to express love.

There are a lot of people around today who Mistake Buddha's advice for thegolden rule. They believe they are righteous because of what they don't do."Well," they may say, "I don't hurt anybody. I've never killed anyone and I don'tsleep around." Their lives becomes so predicated on negatives that they literallybecome "good for nothing."

But observe that Jesus framed this ethic in distinctly positive terms. He said, 'Asye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (Luke 6:31).Even as I would like to be served, I should serve. Even as I would like to beloved, I should love. Even as I would like to receive gifts, I should give.

Loving our neighbors as ourselves means taking the initiative to do for others ina creative, active, and joyful manner. The golden rule isn't merely aboutavoiding wrong, but rather, it's about actively seeking out practical ways toexpress our love.

Jesus says we fulfill the law first by loving God then by loving others and treatingthem as we would like to be treated. We like others to speak well of us, so weshould speak well of them. We like others to overlook our faults, so we shouldextend the same gracious attitude toward them.

Churchgoing Cannibalism

Why is it that when someone says something unkind about us, often our firstresponse is to take them down a few pegs? We drop a few remarks to the effectthat our critics aren't quite as holy as they'd like others to think. "Well, I onlylike to speak the truth, and I want to tell you about him," we say. Then whenthey hear what we have been saying, another round is triggered in an endlesscycle of backbiting and ill will.

On the other hand, if I find out someone really likes me and is saying nice thingsabout me, I say, "Well, he is surely an excellent judge of character. He is just amarvelous person, you know."

It used to be that when someone was intent on tearing another person to pieces,I would bait him on. After he had dumped his load of garbage I would say, "Well,that is very interesting. I guess you didn't know he was my uncle, did you?" Iliked to watch the reaction.

Paul warned us, "If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be notconsumed one of another" (Galatians 5:15). If we find ourselves in the practiceof biting and devouring one another - speaking cutting, destructive, evensarcastic words about one another - we are walking in the antithesis of love.Sadly, a kind of interpersonal, relational cannibalism begins to take place. Wefind ourselves trapped in a destructive, vicious circle. Jealousy and bitternessand striving develop and soon the church is eating itself up. We are beingconsumed one of another.

I once read an account of a man in England who successfully bred a particularlyvicious breed of game cocks. His roosters were almost invincible in the pit, andthe man took great pride in the stature and reputation he had gained as a resultof his efforts. Each morning he would walk out and admire his fighting birds.

One day he went out to inspect his roosters and, much to his horror, found theirpen littered with feathers, blood, and carcasses. His precious stock was lyingabout, ripped to shreds. He quickly called one of his hired hands and asked whathad happened. "Who was so stupid as to put these aggressive creatures in thesame pen?" he thundered. The servant replied meekly, "I did, sir." 'And whywould you do such a stupid thing?" demanded the owner. "Well," said theemployee, "I figured by now they would all know they are fighting on the sameside." But of course, the birds were too stupid to recognize the real enemy.

Unfortunately, there are times when we in the church hardly perform on a moreintelligent level. We often forget who our real enemy is. The enemy is not agroup of Baptists or Presbyterians. Our real enemy is the power of darkness thatholds men in slavery to deception and sin. We need to quit our self-destructiverivalries and begin working together for the common good of God's kingdom. Forif we bite and devour one another, we are going to be consumed by one another.One day we are going to find the church bloody and broken and the world willsay, "Look - that's Christianity for you!"

How tragic that so much of the history of the church has been spent in devouringand consuming one another. We are far too given to unfairly labeling and puttingdown those in other fellowships, and nothing could be more counterproductive tothe progress of the kingdom of God.

As free men and women in Christ, we need to walk in the Spirit - the Spirit oflove, forgiveness, and kindness. We must look to the Lord for His grace andempowerment. This is not an elective for us. Where else will we find the strengthto run against this destructive tide and focus on what is good and praiseworthyin others, even those with whom we disagree?

The Responsibility of Freedom

With freedom comes great responsibility. Always. The price of freedom is eternalvigilance, someone once said. We must be on guard to maintain our freedombecause it is terribly easy to lose.

Do not be misled into misusing your freedom to gratify your flesh. Yes, we arefree in Christ to act as we choose. And yes, while God may not condemn yoursoul to hell over some questionable activity, ask yourself: Does it slow youdown? Is it impeding your progress toward the goal?

The main goal and desire of my life is to be found in Christ, complete in Him.Paul said, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveththe prize? So run, that ye may obtain" (I Corinthians 9:24). I intend to "presstoward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 3:14). "Wherefore... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin whichdoth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set beforeus, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1,2).

I don't want anything to slow me down. I don't want anything to impede myprogress. Someone Might tell me, "But Chuck, there is nothing wrong with X. AChristian can do that." Sure he can. But it can also impede his progress towardthe goal! 'All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient" (ICorinthians 6:12). Some lawful things tear me down and harm my relationshipwith Jesus. 'All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under thepower of any" (verse 12).

If I am to remain free, I must be careful not to exercise my freedom in pursuinganything that could bring me under its power. Once I have succumbed to itspower, I am no longer free. If I want to exercise my freedom in activities thatget a grip on me and will not let me go, then I am no longer free. I have beenfoolish in the exercise of my freedom and have brought myself back intobondage. And that's no way to live.

Thank God, we have been given freedom in Christ! Thank God, we have beengiven the resources to maintain that freedom! Mere words cannot express whatit means to be truly free.

May the Lord help us to freely love, to freely serve, to freely seek the bestinterests of one another. For then, at last, we shall be capable of fully enjoyingthe incomparable delights to be found only in the freedom of God's great grace.

10. Won't They Go Wild?

Many people have a great, unfounded fear that the grace of God will lead tosinful living. They fear that if believers realize God doesn't judge them by worksbut by faith in Christ, they will run wild. "Wait a minute, Chuck!" they say. "Youopen the door like this and people are going to do all kinds of evil or horriblethings and rationalize it by saying, His grace covers everything I do."'

This objection is not new. Paul's preaching of the gospel of grace among theGentiles brought immediate protests from the Jews. They thought that givensuch liberty, the Gentiles would go crazy. Peter, too, could see the dangers ofmisinterpreting Paul's gospel, and in his epistle said, 'As our beloved brother Paulalso according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in allhis epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard tobe understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they doalso the other scriptures, unto their own destruction" (II Peter 3:15,16).

Unfortunately, there always have been those who take the Word of God andtwist it from its context - to their own destruction. They take Paul's gospel as anexcuse for a riotous life of sin. But the gospel can never be truly understood inthat way.

You're Dead!

In Romans 5, Paul lays out our relationship with God through grace in strong,glorious terms. In verse 20 he states, "Where sin abounded, grace did muchmore abound." In the first verse of the next chapter he imagines some peoplesaying, "Well, then, let's go out and do a lot of sinning so that grace might muchmore abound. The abounding grace of God is wonderful. Let's give it a chance toreally abound." Paul answers, in effect, "Perish the thought! How can we who aredead to sin live any longer therein?" (see Romans 6:2). His answer contains animportant key to the Christian walk and experience.

Suppose I was caught robbing a bank. I am sent to jail and am put on trial. Aftermany weeks, the jury comes in with a verdict: "We find him guilty." The judgethen appoints the day when I am to be sentenced. I am looking at five to lifebecause I used a gun and shot holes in the ceiling and scared the tellers silly.Finally, the day arrives that I am to appear before the judge for sentencing.

The law has done its job. It has apprehended and condemned the guilty. I gointo court and the judge says, "Will the defendant please rise." I stand up, andhe says, "The court finds you guilty and you are sentenced to spend five years tolife in the state penitentiary." The news is so bad that I have a heart attack anddie right on the spot.

Does the court keep my carcass in jail for five years? No. My death immediatelysets me free from the condemnation of the law. My sentence has no more powerover me because I am a dead man.

This is the point Paul makes about those of us who, through faith in Jesus Christ,have been justified before God and are now living under His glorious grace. Weare no longer living after the flesh; our old self is dead. The law had sentencedus to death. The demands of the law were fulfilled when we became crucifiedwith Christ. The old me and you were crucified. So if the old self is dead, thenhow can we be living any longer in sin? We are dead to that old life.

"I am crucified with Christ," writes Paul, "nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christliveth in me" (Galatians 2:20). We don't live an old, selfish life anymore. Ourego-centered days are over. No longer do we live after the flesh. We are nowfree from the law, our sinful nature, and our awful guilt because our old, guiltyman was crucified with Jesus Christ. Now we walk after God by trusting in Jesus.

If You're Dead, Act Like It

The kind of faith that brings me a righteous standing before God is the kind offaith that manifests itself in the works of God. If I am still living in the filth andcorruption of my old flesh - using the grace of God as a cloak for my lasciviousway of life - then I am only deceiving myself. I am not really a child of God.James 2:26 says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith withoutworks is dead also."

A person who has been born of the Spirit of God will manifest it in his lifestyle.Jesus said, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shewyou to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep,and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beatvehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon arock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundationbuilt an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently,and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great" (Luke 6:46-49).

The apostle John wrote, 'And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keephis commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not hiscommandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (I John 2:3,4). And twicein that same letter he adds that whoever is born of God cannot practice sin (seeI John 3:9; 5:18). Do not frustrate the grace of God. Believe and trust in JesusChrist as your Lord and Savior and walk in the newness of that relationship.

Love God and Do What You Will

At this point, some will ask, "Still, if our good works don't save us, what's tokeep us from running around smoking, or carousing, or hanging out in seedybars?" It's not that I can't do these things; I simply don't have the desire. Thelove of Christ constrains me to live a life that pleases Him. Having tasted thegoodness of His love, I don't want to walk away from Him. I want to draw asclose to Jesus as possible because I love Him and He loves me. I don't want toget involved in anything that would dishonor Him.

Ironically, I live a much straighter life under grace than I ever did under the law.Under a legal relationship I am always pressing the limits. I am always trying toascertain whether specific actions are right or wrong. I am always looking forloop-holes. I rationalize and justify the things I am doing. I live to the legallimits, plus a little bit more.

God doesn't want to bind you with law; He wants to draw you to Himself with Hislove. This is the gospel of grace.

A love relationship with God is vastly different from that. No longer do I debatewhether something is right or wrong. Rather, I find myself asking, "Is thispleasing to my Father? I love Him and want to please Him. He loves me so muchthat I don't want to hurt Him. Would my Father be pleased if I did this?"Sometimes even where the law is silent, my heart tells me God would be grievedif I carried out an activity I'm considering.

A loving relationship is what God is seeking with each of us. He doesn't want tobind you with a law. He wants to draw you with His love to Himself. This is thegospel of God's grace, the righteousness which God imputed to us apart from thelaw.

So many of us fail to understand that love is the only true motivation forgoodness. Fear is never a primary, driving force in the Christian life. If we aregood only because we are afraid to be bad, that is not true righteousness. Wecan have circumspect external conduct as a cover for all kinds of wrong andtwisted motivations. If fear of consequences is the only thing that keeps us incheck, we may merely be an example of evil under restraint. That isn't truegoodness. True goodness is always and exclusively motivated by love. If ourmoral choices are based on fervent love and a desire to abstain from things thatgrieve the heart of God, we have discovered the true motive of righteousness.

The fruit of the Spirit is love. One of the outstanding characteristics of love isgoodness. When we are conscious of love, we experience joy. When love takeshold of our lives, we know peace. The demonstration of love is always patienceand longsuffering. The character of love is gentleness and kindness. The bottomline is that when the Spirit is producing His fruit in us, the need for burdensomeexternals like the law disappears. The law is fulfilled by love.

So we make a wonderful discovery: a righteous life is no longer a burden to usbut a joy because we have a love relationship with Jesus.

A Lingering Problem

It is possible for us to know and experience the grace of God. We can live in thejoy and peace of justification by faith in Jesus Christ and the confident assuranceof our righteous standing before God in Him. This confidence comes through theknowledge that I was crucified with Christ. The life dominated by my flesh isdead and I now live a new life dominated by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. I have anew nature, the nature of Jesus Christ. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he isa new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new"(II Corinthians 5:17). This is an incredibly liberating truth.

But I still have a problem. I am still in this body, and as long as I am in thisstate I am subject to the powerful forces of my bodily drives. Thus, there iswarfare going on inside of me. The flesh brings. up his guns and begins to fireaway. My flesh - my old man - is dead, and yet it's as if I have to carry this oldcarcass around with me. I'm like the partner of Sam McGee, living with "a corpsehalf hid that he couldn't get rid."

It's crucial to remember that Scripture makes an important distinction: My spiritis redeemed, but my body is not. That creates a tremendous conflict. Pauldeclared in Romans 8:22,23, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth andtravaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also,which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,waiting for the adoption, [that is,] the redemption of our body." How often Igroan and weep before God because of the weaknesses of my flesh.

After Jesus had prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, He came to the disciplesand found them asleep. He said to Peter, "Simon, sleepest thou? Couldst notthou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Thespirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak' (Mark 14:37,38). No truer words wereever spoken. My spirit, indeed, is willing, but my flesh is weak. I groan andtravail and I say, "Oh God, hasten the day when you deliver me from this bodyof corruption!" I am anxious to get rid of this old corpse.

In my moment of weakness, the Spirit raises up conviction and power and mymind is turned toward the Lord.

One day, we will all be liberated from our fallen nature. Scripture says, "For thiscorruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shallhave put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where isthy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. Butthanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (ICorinthians 15:53-57).

In the meantime, all is not lost. In my moment of weakness, the Spirit raises upconviction and power and my mind is turned toward the Lord. I seek His helpand His strength. I begin to experience His victory. I have found that I must relydaily upon the strength and power of Jesus Christ to live the life He wants me tolive. There is no place where I can put my life in neutral and coast along. Theminute I do, the flesh begins to rise up and usurp power and authority. I mustkeep my appetites subdued, or else they will rule over me. Paul wrote, "I keepunder my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when Ihave preached to others, I myself should be a castaway [or disapproved]" (ICorinthians 9:27).

Now, if I am caught off guard and find myself again yielding to the flesh, doesthat mean I am no longer saved? Do I have to get saved all over again? No. Istill believe in Jesus Christ. I still love the Lord and it is still my faith that isimputed to me for righteousness. It is precisely because of my faith and my newlife in Christ that I cannot go on being dominated by my flesh.

Though I may fall into a pit for a time, I can't stay there. God won't let me stayin that state. He won't let me get by with some of the things that I might like todo that everybody else is doing. They may do it and get by with it, but I won't.He will see to it that I won't! If I try to follow worldly ways and do the things that

the "life in the fast lane" crowd does, I am either going to fail at it, hate it, or getcaught. Because He loves us and we are His children, we simply can't get by withsin like the world does.

Are There No Standards at All?

Someone may still be wondering, So if we are under grace, can we simply ignoreGod's standards of personal conduct? Not at all. In our new relationship, we havereceived the dynamic of God's power and the indwelling presence of the HolySpirit. In Christ we receive a new nature that longs to live in harmony with God'slove and holiness. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we need no longer strainand strive to do what is right. This is what John meant when he wrote, "This islove for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome" (IJohn 5:3, NIV). God's presence within us empowers us to choose what is rightand to refrain from evil.

Those who have read the classics are probably familiar with the story of Ulysses.During his travels, this ancient adventurer heard stories of the island of thesirens - deadly enchantresses who made such beautiful music that any sailorspassing by would turn their ships toward shore and be dashed upon the rocks.No one had ever heard the song of these sirens and lived. This sounded like aworthy challenge to a daring man like Ulysses. He decided to become the first tohear this music and survive.

In order to achieve his goal, Ulysses put wax in the ears of his crew andinstructed his men to tie him securely to the ship's mast. As they rowed past theisland of the sirens, the seductive music began. Ulysses began to strain againstthe ropes, struggling to get loose so he could swim to shore. He cursed at hissailors to turn the boat toward the rocks, but the wax prevented them fromhearing his cries. Ulysses continued to fight against his bonds until the shipmoved out of range and into safety. Ulysses had heard the song of the sirensand lived - yet ever after he was haunted by the memory of the beguiling music.

Greek myths also tell of another ship that passed this island and yet survived. Asits crew was being drawn by the deadly melody to disaster on the shoals, agifted man on board named Orpheus grabbed a lyre and began to play. Themusic of Orpheus so far surpassed that of the sirens that the men turned awayfrom the rocks and sailed to safety, enraptured by these new, exquisite melodiesthat gave life.

When we face the pull of temptation, most of us can relate to either Ulysses orOrpheus. For some, the siren song of the world has an almost irresistibleattraction. They find themselves bound in place by the law, yet strugglingagainst the rules when enticed by the power of the flesh. Their only hope is inthe law that holds them back.

The joy of oneness in Christ far surpasses anything the world or the flesh canoffer.

But there are those who have heard a new song - the music of heaven in theirhearts. They discover that the love of Jesus Christ is so strong and satisfyingthat, although the world is still attractive, they gladly leave it behind so theymay be powerfully drawn into His beautiful presence. They don't have to be tiedor bound. They aren't struggling against restricting ropes. They have discoveredthe glory of walking with God in intimate fellowship.

The joy of such oneness in Christ far surpasses anything the world or the fleshcan offer. The allure and attraction of sin has lost its power. Those who havediscovered this kind of fulfillment don't need laws. Instead of slavishly followinga regulation that says, "Now, don't bash your neighbor's head in!" they have nodesire to do so because their heart has been touched by the love of God. Theysimply want to see their neighbor saved.

Just the other day, I saw this principle in action. As I was driving down a busystreet near Calvary Chapel a car pulled in front of me, causing me to nearly lockup my breaks. The car was driven by a little, gray-haired old lady. She didn't seeme or a number of others she nearly ran into. If the other drivers had not paidclose attention, there would have been a terrible accident. She made so manyfoolish moves I found myself praying, "Lord, please help that little old lady gethome safely." Those who know me will testify that my attitude of concern in thatsituation was nothing short of a miracle! It is glorious to be able to experiencethe changes brought about by our loving relationship with God through JesusChrist.

A Constant Love

Because of Christ, we can experience true oneness with God. God isn't close tous one moment and distant the next. And even if we fail, even though we arestill weak in so many areas, our righteous standing before God doesn't vary withour shifting attitudes or changing moods. Our relationship with God is steady andsecure because it isn't based upon us or our performance. Our relationship ispredicated upon the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. He took our sins uponHimself and died in our place to make our salvation by faith a reality. We canleave behind the mentality that says God only loves us when we are "good" andrejects us when we are bad.

I call my granddaughter on the phone quite often. I like to talk to her in themorning and ask her how things are going. Sometimes when I talk to her, shesays, "I am a grouchy girl today, Grandpa." Do I love her less when she saysthat? She knows that she is out of sorts. But it doesn't alter my love for her onebit. Nor do I love her any more when she is a sweet little angel. I just love her. Ilove her grouchy and I love her sweet.

God looks at us the same way. When we are grouchy we are prone to think, Godcan't love me today. I don't even love myself. I am miserable. I don't wantanyone around me. We are also prone to think God doesn't love us when wehave failed. Not so! If our standing before God were based on our performance,it never would have been necessary for Jesus Christ to die.

When Jesus accounts our faith as righteousness, He gives us a beautiful, stable,loving relationship with Himself. We enjoy the kind of standing that says, "Comeon in and sit down. Let Me help you; let Me strengthen you."

God loves you. You are so very dear to Him that He chose you and called you tobe His eternally. That is why the grace of God does not lead to wild living.There's infinitely more joy to be had in the Savior than in sin.

11. Booby Traps and Land Mines

It seems there are always those who stand ready to move into harvestedterritory in order to glean off some of the crop.

In Calvary Chapel's parking lot, we often catch people distributing flyers whichpromote weird doctrines. At other times we've seen people stand in the drivewayand try to put some kind of a doctrinal trip on the parishioners as they arecoming in. We always ask, "Why would you go to a church to pass out yourflyers?" If we were holding some special event and planned to pass out flyers toannounce it, we would send our kids to the beach or to the shopping centers -not to another church! Why would you go to a church to try to siphon off thosewho already are established there?

If you have a vital doctrine that you feel others must understand and believe,then rather than trying to convert us, why not grant us the privilege of seeinghow that truth has transformed your life into the image of Jesus Christ? Let ussee that truth demonstrated in your own life. When we see your gloriouscommitment and your close walk with the Lord, we no doubt will ask you what isgoing on because you have something we need.

Sadly, people are never satisfied to do that. It is tragic that they feel they have adivine calling to rip off the body of Christ to another persuasion. That is why theNew Testament is full of warnings and exhortations against false teachers andtheir cunning and charming ways.

You Can Be Sure

All cults tend to pervert the gospel of Christ. Usually they heavily emphasizeworks and a works-related righteousness. If you ask a person involved in one ofthese cults if they are born again, quite often they will respond, "Brother, youwon't know that until you die, because you donít know what your last works aregoing to be." Now, wouldn't that be a horrible time to find out?

God wants us to have assurance of our salvation, and if we depend upon JesusChrist and His work, we can have it. If our salvation is based upon works thenassurance is beyond our grasp. If our salvation is based upon faithfulness to acreed or to a system of works, then we won't know our eternal destiny until wedie... and then it will be too late. But if our salvation is based upon faith in JesusChrist and His work alone, we can be sure.

The Bible teaches that the way of salvation is indeed a narrow way.

You know, I am not sure of my works. I am not sure of my self-righteousness. Iam sure of His work and His righteousness. As the hymnwriter put it, "My hope isbuilt on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust thesweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." Paul is so convinced of thistruth that he writes, "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any othergospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him beaccursed" (Galatians 1:8). Strong words! Paul uses the term anathema, whichmeans "cursed to the lowest hell."

Suppose that some angel sits on your bed tonight. You feel restless, wake up,and see a glowing creature sitting there on the foot of your bed, seven feet tall.If he says, "Don't be afraid! I have come to share some good news with you. Youare a special person - God has chosen you for a special work. If you will just getin and do this work for God, He will save you." What should you conclude? Onething is for sure: This angel is not from God. Let him be accursed.

The Bible teaches that the way of salvation is indeed a narrow way. Paul's wordsstrike a death blow to the broad kind of religion so popular today that says, "Ibelieve a person who is doing what he feels is right in his own heart will beaccepted by God." Peter said, "[Christ] is the stone which was set at nought ofyou builders, which is become the head of the corner [that is, chief cornerstone].Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name underheaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:11,12).

Many people today would respond, "Oh Peter, you are too narrow. You mean totell me that Jesus is the only way? That is too narrow, Peter. I can't follow that."Very well. Then be accursed. "But those are such harsh words," they reply. "Thatis too narrow. Surely, Jesus was broader than that!" But it was Jesus Himselfwho said, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,but by me" (John 14:6). And it was Jesus who said, "Enter ye in at the straitgate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, andmany there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is theway, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13,14).

Paul had it right all along. Even today you can almost hear him pleading with theGalatians: "Look, I am going to say it again. If I or an angel of heaven or anyman come and lay on you any other trip - one that gets you to rely on yourself,in your own works, in your own goodness, in your own righteousness, in yourkeeping of the law, in your being circumcised, in your following some ritual, inyour joining some group, in your giving so much - let him be accursed!"

Why was Paul so adamant? Because God has accepted us just as we are - as weput our faith in His Son Jesus Christ. By our trust in Him, He has cleansed usfrom all our sins and He has received us. God desires to bestow upon us therichness and the fullness of His love - not because we deserve it, but because Heloves us. This is the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. This is what Paul eventuallydied for.

It's a Marvel

Do you ever wonder why the doctrines that teach good works as the basis forrelating to God seem to gain such a strong foothold in people's lives? I confess Ihave.

No doubt Paul wondered too, for he said to the Galatians, "I marvel that ye areso soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto anothergospel" (Galatians 1:6). It is a marvel that people would leave the grace ofChrist for another gospel - especially when this "gospel" isn't good news at all!

Whenever a person says, "It's good to believe in Jesus Christ, but it takes morethan that," watch out! The minute you tell me that I have to be righteous andmust prove myself before God by my holiness, you are not bringing me to God;you are pushing me away from Him. I am not righteous and I am not holy andthere is no way I can be, so what you are telling me is not good news. It is farfrom good news. It's a proclamation of death.

Paul could not understand why anyone would want to leave a loving relationshipwith God to try to establish a relationship based on works, circumcision, orthrough keeping the law. "There be some that trouble you," he wrote, "andwould pervert the gospel," the good news of Christ (Galatians 1:7).

Love as a Weapon

It is a wonder that people would leave the real gospel for a counterfeit, but it isno mystery how false teachers often recruit their new disciples. Paul points outthat one common technique is a zealous use of affection: "They zealously affectyou, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them"(Galatians 4:17).

Those who have been pulled into cults often report an incredible shower of loveand attention directed their way when the cult considered them a hot prospect.Once a person commits to the group, however, the zeal turns from love toindoctrination. Rather than being overwhelmed with affection, the new convert isput under strenuous physical discipline and eventually is worn down to the pointof exhaustion. Any feelings of self-confidence are stripped away, leaving theperson extremely susceptible to the group's spiritual distortions.

The love so readily demonstrated at the beginning is only a means to isolate theindividual and bring him or her into bondage. If one doesn't go along with theprogram, the love quickly ends and the person finds himself excluded andostracized. If he fails to be won over to the new persuasion, the "love" quicklyturns to open hostility.

In my early years of ministry in Tucson, I had an unpleasant encounter with agroup of "Jesus Only" Pentecostals. This cult teaches that the Father, Son, andHoly Spirit are merely different terms for Jesus. (Of course, they have a difficulttime explaining who Jesus was speaking to when He prayed to the Father, or

who it was who spoke from heaven at Jesus' baptism. Perhaps the voice inMatthew 3:17 that said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"was just a clever bit of ventriloquism?) The weakness of this position is evident,yet the followers of this persuasion love to come on strong and create all kinds ofconflict.

Sadly, a couple of influential families in our church bought into this doctrine.Soon they targeted me as their next project and began to "zealously affect" me.They would take me out to lunch and go on and on about my great potential andhow much they loved the church.

Now, I have always detested arguing Scripture with people. I usually let themlay out their faulty positions without trying to tear them apart. And so thesepeople would quote the scripture where Jesus said, "I and my Father are one"(John 10:30) and I would say, "Yes, that is right. That is what He said." Everytime they would quote Scripture I would say, "Yes, that is what it says." But Iwouldn't argue with them.

Of course, I knew many scriptures that would clarify the issue, but I didn'tbother to argue with these folks. Jesus said, "Agree with thine adversary quicklywhiles thou art in the way with him" (Matthew 5:25), so I would agree with thescriptures they cited. While I didn't agree with their peculiar interpretations, Ialways agreed with the scripture itself. Since I wasn't arguing with them, thesepeople thought they had me persuaded.

One day, they brought up their doctrine in an adult Sunday school class. Whenthe teacher effectively refuted their position, some of them tried to claim that Iwas in their camp. The teacher immediately called me in to settle the dispute.When I told the class I believed that God is one yet is manifested in the distinctpersons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the "Jesus Only" faction becamelivid.

The next day they called me on the phone and said, "We want to see you tonightat our house." That evening I visited them and they demanded, "What is the bigidea, denying the truth? How could you deny what you really believe?" And Ireplied, "I didn't. I did not deny the truth nor did I deny what I believe. I statedin the class exactly what I believe. I don't think Jesus was playing cheap tricks ofventriloquism and I don't believe He was trying to deceive the people when Hewas praying to the Father. I believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit areseparate personalities, though there is one God." That's when I started seeingthe proverbial end of the finger.

"Brother," they threatened me, "God has given us a revelation, and we had avision of you being carried out in a black coffin unless you stand up before thechurch and tell them that we are right! As I listened to an avalanche of direthreats, I began to wonder, What happened to all the love these people had forme?

"We will give you until Saturday to make up your mind whether or not you aregoing to fess up," they said. I replied, "I don't need until Saturday. I can tell you

right now." "Don't say another word," they answered. "Just you pray about this,brother, and if by Saturday night you won't promise that you are going to dothis, then we will never be back to your church." Naturally, the leader of thisgroup had 11 kids out of the 53 in our Sunday school. That makes it tough whenyou are trying to grow your Sunday school.

On Saturday night I got the call. "Well, brother, what have you decided?" "Ihaven't changed my mind or my thinking at all," I replied. 'All right, we warnedyou," he said, and I heard a click at the other end. He was gone, and his 11 kidswith him.

This man and his faction were zealous in showing affection as long as I was apotential convert. But when they discovered I wouldn't go into bondage to themand their persuasions, they dropped both me and the church like a bad habit.

That wasn't true love; it was only a hypocritical demonstration in order to makea convert out of me. As Shakespeare once observed, "Love is not love thatalters, when it alteration finds." When I wasn't converted, their true feelingswere displayed.

This is a frequent tactic of false teachers. They will be very zealous in theirdemonstration of affection in order to make a convert out of a contact. But if theperson doesn't submit to their persuasions, they will quickly exclude him.

People can come on very strong and seem so loving, so nice, so sweet - but onlybecause they are seeking to win you to their persuasion. If you are not wonover, watch out! They will call you every name in the book and will hit you withall kinds of judgments and condemnations. This is not the gospel of grace!

Don't Get Tripped Up

It's always difficult to see people leave the truth for a lie. You love them andwant to spare them the pain you know is ahead, but there's little you can do.Paul knew that feeling well. Galatians 5:7 is a bittersweet verse that recalls therelationship the apostle shared with the Galatians. He writes, "Ye did run well;who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?"

The Galatians had formerly walked in such love for God and one another thatthey ministered to Paul openly and selflessly in a time of extreme circumstance.They had even been willing to give up their own eyes for him. But now they hadbecome so hindered in their walk that some considered Paul an enemy. Why?Because he cared enough to tell them the truth.

Drawing an analogy from the realm of athletics, Paul likened the Galatians tocompetitors who made a good start out of the blocks but then got tangled up asthey ran the race. "This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you," he wrote(Galatians 5:8). Paul insisted that the "new and deeper truths" brought by theJudaizers were not from God.

Each believer is responsible to search the Scriptures to see if the teachings aretrue or false.

Yet how many people are taken in by this kind of false persuasion? Oftentimeseven sincere believers in Christ are led astray by the clever stories of anevangelist. They buy into false teaching not because they have searched theScriptures, but because they have been influenced by the force of a persuasivepersonality.

The sad result of such ungodly influence is that the victims end up in bondage,almost stripped of their own personality. Have you ever wondered howseemingly normal people can come so far under the sway of a cult that they willend up selling flowers or peanuts in the airport for their leader? This kind ofpersuasion certainly doesn't come from God. In fact, in all bondage-orientedsystems, people will sooner or later find themselves under the lordship of men.

The best safeguard against this kind of deception is to "prove all things; hold fastthat which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). No matter how highly respected anindividual is, no matter how prominent or large a following he may have, wecan't take anyone's word for the gospel truth. Each believer is responsible tosearch the Scriptures to see if these things be so.

How tragic that we set such precaution aside and believe everything a particularteacher has to say merely because he has a certain look or speaking style ortelevision or radio ministry. When we fail to check up on the teachings presentedto us, we leave ourselves wide open to persuasions not of the one who calls us.God doesn't change His mind. God doesn't edit His truth or spice it up with newrevelations. The gospel of grace doesn't change - yet it's not hard to findpreachers who claim it has.

Bondage by Any Other Name

Even today there are all kinds of people who preach legalism. They will askquestions like, "How were you baptized, brother? Who baptized you? What didthey say when they baptized you?" Some even say things like, "If you weren'tbaptized with the right formula, then it isn't a true baptism. Were you justsprinkled or were you immersed?"

The tragic thing is that these teachings serve only to alienate us from the workGod has done in our hearts through faith in Jesus Christ. Any ritual, whether it isbaptism or communion or foot-washing, will not avail a thing to make usrighteous. Right standing with God is ours totally and completely by faith, whichworks by love. This is the key to real power and peace in our walk with God. Nowonder the great apostle said, "I am amazed that you would so soon turn fromthe truth unto another gospel which isn't really a gospel"!

The true gospel is good news. It is the good news of God's grace and theforgiveness of sins through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Your relationshipwith God isn't based on your righteousness or your works or in keeping certainrules, but upon your believing in God's sacrifice for you. If you will just believe in

this work of God, through Jesus Christ you can have a beautiful, unbrokenrelationship with God. All your sins will be washed away and the guilt of all yourshortcomings, failures, and attitudes will vanish. They won't exist, for you willhave been justified through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul knew the folly of trying to relate to God on the basis of works. He could seethe end result, for that's where he started out. "Don't tell me about the law," hemight say, "I know all about the law. I know all about the righteousness whichwas of the law. I was a Pharisee. I was zealous. I was more zealous than mybrothers. Don't give me that business of the law; I know what it is all about. Butthank God, I was delivered from all that when I came into a new relationshipwith God through faith in Jesus Christ!"

We have been, too. Therefore, having been established in the gospel of grace,don't let men trouble you and lay guilt trips or the idea of righteousness byworks upon you. It's not worth it. None of us need a word like anathema to beattached to our name.

12. All or Nothing

Some time ago I attended a pastor's luncheon in Oregon. Before the programbegan, someone asked if I had heard about the hitchhiker who spoke about theLord's return and then vanished. I told him yes, I had. Only the first time I hadheard about it was way back in 1944 in Burbank, California. The story alwayshad the same ending. The couple who picked up the hitchhiker pull into a servicestation only to hear the attendant tell them they are the ninth customers thatday with the same story. The pastor who questioned me laughed and said, "Thatshows you how remote Oregon is - it took 50 years for this rumor to get here!"

How prone we are to getting all worked up over things that amount to nothing!And how grateful I am that our faith is based on the firm foundation of the Wordof God. I would much prefer that the Lord speak to me from the tried and truepages of Scripture than to receive some kind of supernatural, special revelation.If even an angel came to me claiming to have some revolutionary truth, I wouldfind myself questioning whether his message was of God.

Endless second-guessing is not a problem when we turn to the Word. The Bibleis the only firm foundation for our faith and Christian walk. When our lives arefounded on the truth of God's Word, we won't be carried away by the latestdoctrinal fad or "new and improved" version of the gospel. How crucial it is thatwe stand fast on the truth of God's Word! This is the only way to maintain theglorious liberty provided to us so abundantly in Christ.

How Can We Stand Fast?

It is important to understand that those who fail to stand fast are moved fromsimple faith in Christ by a lack of understanding of God's Word. It is only a solidgrasp of the Scriptures that brings real stability to our lives.

Paul once observed that God has provided the church with apostles, prophets,evangelists, and pastor-teachers for the "perfecting of the saints" (Ephesians4:11,12). A mark of this perfection is a unity of faith so stable that we will be "nomore children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they he in wait todeceive" (Ephesians 4:14). How important it is for us to be founded on the Word,especially in our deception-ridden times!

From the materialistic excesses of the prosperity movement ("Of course Godwants all His children to drive Mercedes. You only drive a Toyota? Howunspiritual can you be?") to "new" revelations about the only proper way to bebaptized, strange twists of doctrine are the rule nowadays, not the exception.

When Paul exhorts his friends in Galatians 5:1 to "stand fast therefore in theliberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with theyoke of bondage," his message is as relevant for us today as when he first wrotehis letter. Oftentimes the church itself will be the first to impose a legalisticstandard of righteousness upon us. These rules and regulations are usually well-received because there is a certain security to the well-defined limitations a lawprovides. The cults offer people an overwhelming degree of personal directionand the "security" that comes from blind obedience to authority.

But those who give themselves to such strictly regimented lifestyles do so at thecost of personal freedom. They fail to realize that along with the sense ofsecurity these groups provide comes an intense level of condemnation if onebreaks from the standards. Many who were enslaved in such systems tell us theybelieved that leaving the group was tantamount to leaving God. If a convertbegins to question the group or wants to go somewhere else, they are told theyare in danger of hell. These kind of pressure tactics and outrageous claims to anexclusive lock on the truth are the earmarks of bondage-based groups.

On the other hand, a church that encourages people to find a place where theywill be able to grow in their walk with the Lord shows a sign of spiritual health.At Calvary Chapel, we often suggest that people look around and find a placethat can minister most effectively to them. Some who come to our fellowshipwould like to see more emotionalism or sensationalism in our services. Weencourage these people to exercise their freedom by finding a place more inkeeping with their desires. We are not interested in seeing anyone bound to ourchurch.

It is vital for us to embrace this truth: Putting our faith in any work cuts us offfrom the grace of God.

Paul's use of the phrase "yoke of bondage" is probably a reference to the wordsof Simon Peter at the first Jerusalem Council. In Acts 15, Peter recounted God'scall for him to minister to the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius. He suggestedthat the council not place upon non-Jews a yoke of bondage "which neither ourfathers nor we were able to bear" (verse 10). Paul cites Peter's words to

emphasize that the message of freedom in grace was not something hedeveloped on his own. This liberty in Christ was the solid position of the church.

Rituals Do Not Save

A key aspect of the teaching rejected at the Jerusalem Council was the insistencethat Gentiles go through the ritual of circumcision in order to be saved. Thecouncil agreed with Paul that works cannot possibly make anyone righteous. Paullater stated that putting faith in a ritual runs counter to the gospel. He wrote,"Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit younothing" (Galatians 5:2).

This permits us to safely say that putting our faith in any work cuts us off fromthe grace of God. It is vital for us to embrace this truth. Not many teachers goaround anymore advocating circumcision for salvation, but how many times havewe heard very sincere people insist that we must go through the ritual ofbaptism in order to be saved?

Some take this principle to all kinds of strange extremes. There are sects whoteach that not only must we be baptized to be saved, but we also must bebaptized "correctly." Some insist we must be baptized in the name of Jesus only,Others maintain it must be done by an ordained minister of their particulardenomination. Some get so obsessed with technicalities that they have splitchurches over sprinkling or immersion, or even whether people should bebaptized forward or backward!

The root of all this division is an improper trust in a particular good work toachieve right standing with God. The clear teaching of Scripture is that if wetrust in any good work for salvation, then Christ is of no value to us. We can'tride both sides of the fence and trust Christ and our good works. If we trust inbaptism as the basis of our salvation, we are putting our faith in works. We arebuilding our spiritual house on a sandy foundation that will be incapable ofsustaining us.

A few years ago, a young man came to me and told me he was no longer aChristian, but had joined the Mormon church. When I asked in what he wastrusting as his hope for eternal life, he replied his hope was based on his faith inJesus Christ and continued membership in the Mormon church. I frankly told himhis decision was tragic. The moment he put his trust in anything other than thefinished work of Jesus Christ alone, he had gone too far.

All we need to stand righteously before God is faith in Christ. If we insist ontrusting in Jesus and circumcision (or baptism or tithing or continuedmembership in a church), then Christ will be of no value to us whatsoever.

It's All or Nothing

Those who depend on their works for righteousness can't adopt a pick-and-choose approach. If we accept one good work as necessary for salvation, webecome debtors to the whole law; we must keep the law in its entirety. As Paul

pointed out in Galatians 3:10, "For as many as are of the works of the law areunder the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in allthings which are written in the book of the law to do them." James amplified thistruth when he stated, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend inone point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10).

If we look to the law for righteousness, not only will Christ avail us nothing, butwe also will have to keep every command to utter perfection. Our relationshipwith God is predicated on legalism or grace.

Paul pulled no punches in his rejection of the false teaching of the Judaizers. Hewrote, "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified bythe law; ye are fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4). Those who bring their holier-than-thou sounding package to Christianity have rejected grace.

It is helpful to remember that no one will be in heaven because of his goodworks. We will not have to listen to Abraham or David or Paul talk about all thewonderful things they did to achieve a righteous standing before God. Thesemen simply believed God, and their faith was accounted for righteousness. Noneof us will stand in heaven comparing good works with one another because therewill be only one whose works will be honored before the throne of God - ourLord, Jesus Christ. Jesus and Jesus alone will receive the glory for our salvation.If it were not for Him, none of us would get there.

As Paul put it, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ"(Galatians 6:14). No matter how many good deeds we've done for Him, nomatter how many people we lead to Him or churches we establish for Him, ouronly glory is in Jesus Christ, who died for us. Our righteousness is not a questionof good works, human efforts, keeping certain rituals or dietary laws. Ourrighteousness both at this moment and for all eternity is a result of our simplefaith in God's Son, Jesus.

Righteousness by faith removes all the distinctions between those who belong toChrist. I am no better than you, or you than me. We are all sinners, saved onlyby God's glorious grace. There is no other way to right standing before God.There is only one kind of righteousness that God will accept: the imputedrighteousness of Jesus Christ.

This is no small side issue for us as believers. We must stand fast in the libertywherein Christ has made us free. We must not allow condemning rules to comein and dominate our lives until we feel that, unless we are praying seven hours aday or reading 25 chapters of Scripture in our devotions, we are not reallyrighteous. Our righteousness is not predicated upon how much we read, pray,fast, or give. Our righteousness is based upon simple trust in Jesus to wash usand cleanse us of our sins and to make us pure in the eyes of the Father.

The work of our salvation has been done. There is nothing we can do to improveit. Our good works result from God's acceptance and love; we don't do works toearn His love. Walking according to Christ's commands doesn't make us morerighteous - just happier and more satisfied. What better way to live than giving

my existence to the one who loves me so much in the here and now and whohas promised to take care of me forever? To be led and guided by God is themost fulfilling experience in the world.

Two Choices Only

All of us are either trying to work and be good enough to please God, or we arebelieving and trusting God to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. At eachmoment of our lives we find ourselves on one road or the other. If we are stilltrying to please God through being good enough, defeat and frustration will beour lot. If we have trusted in God's grace to transform us and form Christ withinus, we will enjoy life and peace.

I learned the timeless lesson that laws and rule-keeping can never change ourhearts.

I recall one incident when our family misguidedly tried to make a concertedeffort at bringing a more Christlike atmosphere to our home. As our childrenwere growing up there came a time when sibling rivalry seemed to be at an all-time high. Somehow our children had gotten into the habit of calling each othernames. We found that addressing each other as "dummy," "stupid," or "idiot"had a way of creating friction. So we tried to bring some discipline to thesituation and set up some rules.

Now, in a two-story house, one of the most distasteful tasks is vacuuming thestairs. So in order to improve the tenor of our home life, we decided to keeprecords of family members who insulted each other. The one with the mostviolations had to vacuum the stairs. All this seemed very reasonable at the time,but to this day, I have the sneaky feeling that I was being set up.

One day our two boys started to get into some mischief. When I came into theroom they were in the middle of destroying, the first words out of my mouthwere, "What stupid idiot left this mess?" No doubt you can figure out who endedup vacuuming the stairs.

One good thing came out of it, however. I learned again the timeless lesson thatlaws and rule-keeping can never change our hearts. Our motives were good. Weall struggled in this family endeavor at righteousness - yet we all fell miserablyshort.

It seems that no matter how hard we try to be holy, we have to face the factthat our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of the Lord. God has provideda different hope of righteousness for us - a standing and a relationship withHimself that we must receive as a gift. Righteousness is imparted to us bybelieving in Jesus Christ and knowing that we can't live up to a perfect standard.This is the crucial choice set before us. We can try to clean up our old, tattered,dirty rags and try to look presentable in heaven; or we can choose to be robed inthe complete righteousness of Christ by faith.

My vacuum cleaner reminds me that my only hope is to choose grace.

Off Course and Out of sight

It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to get off course in the Christian life.Even a seemingly minor flaw in a relatively small area of faith or practice can getus completely off center in almost every facet of our Christian life. Therefore,making every effort to maintain doctrinal purity is growing more important everyday.

Recently I had the opportunity to discuss spiritual issues with a fellow whobelieved the church would go through the Great Tribulation. He wondered why Iwould take such a strong stand on what he considered an unimportant facet ofeschatology. I responded by asking, "If the church is going to go through theGreat Tribulation, who are the 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation?" Hereplied that these people were part of the church because the church is spiritualIsrael. I then asked him if he believed that all of God's promises to nationalIsrael were somehow spiritually fulfilled in the church. He agreed that they were."How interesting," I said, "that such an 'unimportant' area of eschatology hascompletely affected your doctrine of the church as well." To put it in Paul'sterms, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).

Let's put it another way. Imagine you are traveling by plane from Los Angeles toHawaii. Before takeoff, the pilot comes on the loudspeaker and says, "Well folks,we're having a slight problem with our navigational system, but don't worryabout it. We'll not be more than two degrees off course." Two degrees wouldn'tbe much just out of Los Angeles, but by the time we were 3,000 miles over thePacific, we would be hopelessly lost. The Big Island would be nowhere in sight.

Clearly, the best approach is to avoid being even a slight degree off course. Inmatters of doctrine, it is imperative that we search the Scriptures, prove allthings, and avoid being taken in by the persuasive arguments of men. That ishow we stand in grace.

Costly Vigilance

Don't be deceived - this vigilance costs something. Controversy and persecutionhave surrounded the preaching of the gospel from the beginning. As Paulremarked in Galatians 5:11, 'And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, whydo I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased." If Paul werepreaching that a right standing with God could be gained by a series of goodworks, there would be no opposition to Christianity. But the cross of Christ hasalways been an offense.

The cross shows us there is only one way to be righteous before God. The truemessage of salvation in Christ alone offends people because it is so narrow andexclusive. The cross declares to the world that there is only one hope for eternallife, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul is in essence saying, "If Iwant to be liberal and say, 'Circumcision is fine if it works for you,' then no onewould persecute me. But I am being persecuted because I have cared enough tostand for the truth."

Paul was never one to mince words. We can see his emotional commitment tothe truth in his verbal broadside against those consumed with the issue ofcircumcision. "I would they were even cut off which trouble you," he wrote inGalatians 5:12. The term rendered "cut off" in the King James Version literallymeans "to emasculate" or "castrate." Paul meant, "If these false teachers believea little mutilation of the flesh makes us righteous, then why don't they go all theway and start with themselves while they're at it!" A modern parallel to Paul'sstatement might be, "I wish those who tell you righteousness comes throughbaptism would go all the way and drown themselves!" Paul vented his feelingstoward those who would dare to pervert the glorious gospel of grace.

Think of how heartsick these developments must have made the apostle. Herewas a fellowship where the Spirit was working, where people were in love withGod and each other. There was unity and excitement in the Lord until these falseteachers arrived on the scene. With the introduction of their own version of thegospel, they created division and soon factions began to develop. The beautifullove and fellowship this body had known soon became but a distant memory. Nowonder Paul's denunciation of their teaching was so direct!

Thanks, Paul!

We who have come to the glorious saving grace of Jesus Christ owe Paul a greatmeasure of thanks. If it were not for him, many in the church might easily havebecome part of just another Jewish sect. But it was Paul who stood firm andestablished new believers in the grace of Jesus Christ. His stand cost himsomething. He was persecuted and slandered and viciously opposed for most ofhis ministry. But it was worth it. At the end of his life he could write thesestirring words, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I havekept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to meonly, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (II Timothy 4:7,8).

May God give us the grace to stand for the truth and the wisdom to share it inlove. May He grant that we stand fast in Jesus Christ and in the knowledge of thetruth. May we realize the incredible depth of blessing and freedom that God hasso richly granted to us. And may we experience these blessings daily as we walkin God's beautiful love, standing fast in His glorious grace.

13. Members of Royalty

As a child, did you ever wonder what it would be like to be born into royalty?Those of us who came from poorer backgrounds probably spent quite a bit oftime daydreaming of what it would be like to be rich.

We may not come from wealthy families, but the Bible makes it clear thatbecause of our relationship with Christ, we are made into a spiritual nation ofdescendants through faith. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:29, "if ye be Christ's,

then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." When we traceour true heritage, we find our identity no longer rooted in Europe or Asia orAfrica. By grace we can trace our true lineage back to Christ, the fulfillment ofGod's promise to Abraham. And because of this special relationship, we are nowheirs of the very kingdom of God.

What is an Heir?

A child of six or seven who receives a large inheritance is, technically speaking, avery wealthy person. Yet until this child reaches the age of majority, asstipulated in the will left by his parents, he is no different in practical positionthan a hired servant in the home. Certainly all the physical needs of the heir willbe met, but he will have no authority to decide how his inheritance will behandled until he comes of age.

The life situation of an heir has not changed considerably since the time of Paul.Paul wrote, "Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothingfrom a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors untilthe time appointed of the father" (Galatians 4:1,2). Paul explains that the heirfound himself under the authority of a steward who had been given fullresponsibility to manage the estate. Typically, a guardian also would beappointed to oversee the child's upbringing and to teach him right and wronguntil he grew to adulthood.

In Roman society, a boy was considered an infant until he was seven years old.From this time until age 17, a small, purple band would encircle his robe,identifying him as a child. At age 17 he would be given another robe without thepurple band to indicate he should be considered a man. Still, not until hereached the age of 25 did he enjoy the legal right to get involved in businessaffairs.

Things were somewhat simpler in Jewish culture. At age 12, a boy would gothrough a ceremony known as a bar mitzvah, in which he would become a full-fledged "son of the covenant." The father of the boy would stand and offer aprayer of thanks that he was no longer responsible for his son's actions. The boyin turn would offer a prayer accepting personal responsibility for himself as aman.

Paul uses this well-known transition to adulthood to illustrate the relationship ofthe law to God's people. When Israel was placed under the law, it was made heirof the promises of God. Yet as long as the nation was under the law, thepromises of their glorious inheritance would not be fulfilled. They awaited theday called "the fulness of the time" when God would make good on everypromise through the provision of His Son. Until that time, Israel was much like asmall child under the governing control of the law.

The Bondage of the Law

The law covered nearly every contingency of day-to-day life, from diet tobusiness transactions to marital relationships. The law exercised strict oversight

over God's people until the time they would "graduate" from childhood toadulthood, when at last they could enjoy the full benefits of the inheritancepromised to them. The promise of a new and wonderful relationship with Godthrough the coming of the Messiah had been given to Israel, and yet thispromise could not be fulfilled until the time appointed by the Father.

The law provided a framework for both individuals and even an entire society tolive in order and harmony. If such external guidelines are all we have in ourrelationship with God, however, we find ourselves in a form of bondage. That iswhy Paul wrote, "Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage underthe elements of the world" (Galatians 4:3).

The law can never take us into the rich, full, free life that the Holy Spirit wantsfor us.

When Paul refers to the "elements of the world," he is speaking of what wewould call the basics of life. The law of Moses was quite effective concerningthese kinds of foundational "do's and don'ts" of daily living.

I have always found it ironic that the first church council (described in Acts 15)dealt so strongly with the question of a complex code of behavior governing thelife of believers. Even though they concluded that believers were no longerobligated to slavishly follow a code of external behavior, there are still manychurches today that seek to impose similar control over their people.

I grew up in a church that believed it had a divine mandate to tell women howthey should dress and what was appropriate or inappropriate in hairstyles. Theleaders also seemed to believe they had a revelation about God's opinions onmakeup. As children, we were given endless commands about what we could orcould not do. I wouldn't go so far as to say the church put us back under the lawof Moses, but it did lay such a heavy load of condemnation and bondage on methat I wasn't able to bear up under its weight. I was constantly repentingbecause I simply couldn't live up to the standards they had set up.

The law could never take us into the rich, full, free life that the Holy Spirit wantsfor us. It only brings guilt, condemnation, and frustration. Fortunately, the law isnot the end of the story.

When the Time Came

In Paul's day, the legal procedures governing the granting of an inheritance werevery precise. When a child reached the age specified in a will for majority, therewas no longer a need for a guardian or a steward to exercise oversight. The heircould receive what was promised directly when he came of age in "the fulness ofthe time."

Paul had that in mind when he wrote, "When the fulness of the time was come,God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" (Galatians 4:4).Since Jesus has come, we can experience the fullness of blessing God haspromised. But there is another shade of meaning to this notion of "the fulness of

the time." Have you ever wondered why God allowed his people to live under thelaw for nearly 1,400 years before He sent His Son? To be honest, we may neverfully understand God's timing. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts arenot our thoughts. But if we take a brief look at history, we may see manyobvious reasons why the timing of Jesus' arrival on the human scene wasespecially opportune.

First, Christ was born in an era of unprecedented peace. For over 13 yearsbefore the birth of Christ and throughout His lifetime, the gates to the temple ofJanus in Rome were closed. Whenever Rome went to war, this temple would becrowded with worshipers praying to Janus for victory. But in Christ's era, theclassic Pax Romana was firmly in place.

Rome also had made huge strides forward in transportation, creating a well-designed system of roads stretching across the empire. And Greek, a clear,expressive, and remarkably specific language, had become the universal tongueunder Roman rule.

All these factors contributed to the rapid spread of the gospel in the first century.It may well be that God waited for this strategic moment so that the message ofHis love and forgiveness for all mankind might enjoy a worldwide impact.

Notice as well that Paul spoke of Christ being "sent" by the Father, implying notonly the eternal preexistence of Christ, but also that Jesus came with a specificpurpose in mind. Jesus was sent into this world to complete the redemption ofhumanity. He came to establish a new covenant whereby man could relate toGod in intimacy and enter into the fullness of His promised blessings.

Paul also tells us that Jesus was "made of a woman, made under the law." Thisreference to the Virgin birth strongly alludes to the first promise of the Messiahgiven in Scripture. In Genesis 3:15, God promised that the seed of the womanwould bruise the head of the serpent, destroying the works of death andseparation from God that Satan had brought about in the Garden of Eden. Jesusalso was "made under the law," a reminder that Christ was born a Jew and wassent first to redeem the Jewish people. He came that the people of God mightfinally achieve spiritual adulthood and enjoy the whole of their spiritualinheritance. Only through Jesus would they receive their inheritance from theheavenly Father.

What a Dad!

I often miss a dear, departed saint by the name of Iva Newman who wasinvolved at Calvary from the beginning. This godly woman walked with God moreyears than I have lived. I used to love to hear her pray. "Now, Father dear..."she would say. Oh, how I loved that! She enjoyed a close, beautiful, intimatefellowship with God. She related to God as her "Father dear."

Did you know that the death and resurrection of Christ has won for you thatsame kind of rich, close relationship? That was Paul's point when he wrote,

"Because Ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,crying Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6).

In this passage we see a marvelous picture of the involvement of the entireTrinity in the life of the believer: God the Father sends forth the Spirit of His Soninto our hearts. A parallel passage found in Romans 8:15,16 tells us that theSpirit of God Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God.This kind of relationship is possible only if we experience a complete spiritualrebirth. As Jesus Himself put it, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and thatwhich is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must beborn again" (John 3:6,7). When we are born again spiritually, we are given thepower to enter into a wonderfully intimate relationship with God, typified byPaul's use of the term "Abba."

Abba is an endearing term for "father." It's an Aramaic word; and if you visitIsrael even today you'll constantly hear the little children calling out, "Abba!Abba!" They're saying, "Daddy! Daddy!"

Jesus often used the term. No doubt His disciples heard Him use it so frequentlyin His prayer life that they did not translate the word into Greek. They preservedthe Aramaic expression because they wanted to capture the same warmth andintimacy Jesus shared with His Father.

It is God's intent that we come to know Him as our loving Father, even as ourDad.

How wonderful it is to know that God wants the same loving, personalrelationship with us in our walk with Him! Too often we are prone to see God asa great, distant, all-powerful Creator, but it is God's intent that we come to knowHim as our loving Father, even as our Dad.

Some see this kind of familiarity as disrespectful, yet it is God Himself who callsus to such a level of intimacy. I recall a time when I had the opportunity to meetwith a group of Italian believers for a prayer meeting. For my benefit they werepraying in English, but even then they kept referring to God as "Papa." At first Ithought this was getting just a tad too informal; but a moment's reflection mademe reconsider. There was a depth of love and closeness in that expression thatrang true to Scripture.

How remarkable it is that God now welcomes us into His presence as dearlyloved children and not fearful, cringing slaves. Isn't this the way a relationshipbetween a father and his children should be? When my children come to visitthey don't stand at attention, salute, and quiver in fear as they talk with me.They don't approach me with all kinds of pretentious formality and say, "Oh,exalted father, grant this humble request of your child this day." Usually it'smore like, "Hey Dad, I need five bucks. I don't have time to explain; just give itto me now and I'll fill you in later!"

God desires that our time with Him be relaxing and restoring to our hearts. Hewants us to feel at home with Him and to be free and open in our relationship.

We might as well feel that way since our lives are an open book before Himanyway. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

God doesn't want us to have a cold, aloof, arms-length relationship with Him.God wants us to know His love personally in the very depths of our heart.Whatever expression that communicates such closeness is completelyacceptable, whether that is "Father," "Dad," or even "Papa."

The Ideal Dad

God is our Father in the purest, truest, most holy sense. He is our Father in anideal way. God help us, our corrupted culture has destroyed the father image inthe hearts of many children. That's tragic. I thank God for my godly father, whoalways has helped me relate to God in a very close, glorious way. I feel sorry forpeople who can't relate to the fatherhood of God in their lives because of somecorrupted example.

Whatever your experience has been, God wants you to relate to Him in thatclosest kind of fellowship, that intimacy, and to know him as a loving, righteousFather, a holy and pure and caring Father. His Spirit within our hearts cries out,"Abba! Daddy! Father!"

God is able to bestow upon us His love, lavishing us with His kindness and Hisgoodness, that we might come to love Him more and more. This is the purposeof God for man. Your life will never be complete until the purposes of God havebeen accomplished in you - until you relate to God in that close, personal way,until you say, "Oh, Abba!" and feel it from your heart.

Dads, do you remember the first time your child said, "Daddy"? It's verydistinguishable. You understood it completely. My own little girl was so smart.The first word she said was, "Daddy." That's right - clear as can be. I turned, Iscreamed, I shouted, "What?" I was sad that nobody else was around, becausewho would believe me? I tried to get her to say it again and she gave me thesweetest, most knowing smile - but she wouldn't repeat it. Still, I heard it! Soonshe was saying it in front of everybody and I was so thrilled.

On that day when we first say, "Oh, Abba!" and He hears us, God is thrilled. It'sthe beginning of a relationship where from the heart we can say, "Hey, that's myAbba. That's my Daddy." The wonder is that this is just the beginning of therichness of our fellowship with God.

Heirs of God

As incomprehensibly great as it is to enter into a relationship with God as our"Abba," that is not the end of the story. Paul tells us, "Wherefore thou art nomore a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God" (Galatians 4:7). Bycoming into this relationship with God as His adopted sons, His Spirit now in ourhearts crying, "Oh, Abba," we have become heirs of God. We are heirs of God'seternal, glorious kingdom.

Our Father loves us so much he has generously made us His heirs, and thisspiritual inheritance is intended by God to be a very real and present blessing inour lives.

Some make the mistake of thinking that a believer has to wait until heaven toenjoy his inheritance, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible tellsus that the earmarks of the kingdom of God are righteousness, peace, and joy inthe Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). We can cash in on these wonderful blessings inthe here and now. The peace of God which passes all understanding can keepour hearts and minds right now. Our soul can overflow with joy unspeakable andfull of glory right now. We can experience a liberating freedom from guilt andfear because we have been declared completely righteous by our believing in thefinished work of Jesus Christ.

That's Not All, Folks

These are just a few of the elements of our glorious inheritance that already areours because God has made us joint heirs with Jesus. We can enter into theplace of highest blessing because of the wonderful love and grace of ourheavenly "Dad."

And yet, that is not all. Jesus said there is coming a day when He will say tothose on His right hand, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdomprepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). I'm an heirof God; I'm the adopted son of the King. So if my Father is the King of theuniverse, that must make me Prince Charles!

It also makes you a prince or a princess. It makes you an heir of the kingdom -the kingdom that God wants you to share with Him and to enjoy, world withoutend. And then will the purposes of God for man be accomplished, when man isrestored into this full, complete, intimate fellowship with God.

Our hearts can overflow with thanksgiving for the warmth and security we nowfeel in knowing of God's limitless love and concern for us. What strength there isin the sure knowledge that He will take care of us, watch over us, and keep us inHis love. We can live with confidence and be sure that we have a Father who isfor us, solidly behind us every step of the way, granting us tremendousresources that we might walk with Him in newness of life.

Our "Abba" is committed to keeping us from falling and to present us faultlessbefore His presence with exceeding joy (see Jude 24). He has granted us sonshipand an incorruptible inheritance through Jesus Christ our Lord. Not because wedeserve it. Not because weíve earned it. All of this has been made possible onlythrough His rich mercy and grace.

How wonderful it is that when we are born again we discover that, in a uniqueway, we have become both spiritually wealthy and members of royalty in thebest and truest sense of the term. Because we are children of God, we havebeen made princes and princesses of the kingdom. Because of what Christ has

done for us, we will receive an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled andwill not fade away - and it is waiting for every one of us to enjoy for all eternity.

14. Our Sole Responsibility

The message of the New Testament is simple, direct, and unmistakable. We aresaved by God's grace through faith alone, not on the basis of any good works wehave done. The sole responsibility of a Christian is to believe in the love andgrace which God freely offers.

This clear message stands in sharp contrast to the teachings of those who wantus to trust in Christ and obey certain rules or practice certain rites. Theseteachers call their message a gospel, but it isn't really good news at all. Theyclaim that in order to be acceptable to God, we need to do adequate works. Lawand works are placed side by side with grace as a two-part ticket torighteousness. Contrary to these teachers, however, the New Testament insiststhat it is not law and works that justify, but God's grace and our response offaith.

We are faced with a classic either/or situation. Righteousness must either comeby faith in Christ alone, or by a perfect keeping of God's law. Right standing withGod by faith or salvation by works are mutually exclusive. When we seekrighteousness before God, we must make our choice and not look for somecompromising middle ground.

Abraham was a man who simply believed God, and God accounted himrighteous. We stand on the same ground as Abraham and are heirs of the sameblessings and promises that he enjoyed. This place of privilege comes only byfaith, not by obedience to a code of law or a set of rules. If we seek to berighteous before God by our works, rather than by faith, we find ourselves undera curse. There are no exceptions to this rule.

If we look to the law as our hope of assurance before God, the only way we canknow security is to keep every commandment flawlessly. As Paul wrote, "Cursedis every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of thelaw to do them" (Galatians 3:10). This means we could never really know if wewere saved until we died, and who can live with that kind of pressure?

Imagine that you lived a perfect life, keeping every commandment, nevercommitting a wrong action. One day, you decide to cross the street while thewalk sign is lit. Suddenly, some driver runs the red light and strikes you down.As you watch his car's transmission pass over your head, you raise your fist andyour parting words before leaving this world are your assessment of this idiot'sdriving habits. In that one small act, you missed the mark. You fell fromperfection. You sinned - and the Bible says the wages of sin is death.

You may be able to keep nine of God's commandments perfectly, but if you fallshort on number ten, you've missed the target. You have sinned. And the bad

news is, unless you keep the whole law and do all that is written in it, you areguilty. It doesn't matter which law you violate; just one failure puts you out.

Therefore, you don't stand a ghost of a chance of being declared righteous onthe basis of your goodness. You are already out. You've already missed themark. All you can expect is the curse of the law. Justification by good works isimpossible because it relies on imperfect human effort. Legalism is the way ofthe curse.

Conversely, the avenue of true righteousness and blessing is the way of faithbecause it relies not on your effort but on God's great mercy and abundant gracetoward you in Jesus Christ. Though you have missed the mark - though you haveutterly failed to be righteous by your own efforts - God has justified, you in HisSon. Jesus took the responsibility for your falling short of God's standard andpaid the penalty that you owed but could never pay. He gives you His perfectrighteousness if you will just believe in Him and place your faith in Him. Andnow, being made right with God through Him, you are a beneficiary of all thewonderful blessings of God.

A Tragic Error

One of the most tragic errors the church can make is to emphasize the work thatbelievers should be doing for God. How many times have you heard heavy,condemning sermons that tell you, "You ought to be praying more! You ought tobe giving more! You ought to be witnessing more, or reading your Bible more, orserving God on some committee more!" How often do you go to church lookingfor encouragement only to hear about your failure and how disappointed Godmust be with you?

The last thing I need is for someone to lay a heavy burden on me about myfailures. I know I ought to be doing more. No one needs to tell me that I don'tpray enough or read my Bible enough or give to God enough. All I get from suchmessages is a huge guilt complex. My frustration increases because I really wantto love God more, to pray more, to have a deeper fellowship with Him. When weplace our emphasis on areas of failure, we end up creating defeated, discouragedChristians who give up and drop out of the race.

What a different message we see when we turn to the New Testament! Ithighlights not what we ought to be doing for God, but what God has alreadydone for us. What we can do for God can never be enough. Our efforts atrighteousness are always marred by our imperfections. But what God has donefor us is perfect, beautiful, complete, and fantastic. How sad that we havereversed the equation and constantly harp upon our responsibility instead ofGod's wonderful grace! This is why we see so much of the church on the verge ofdying out. We don't need someone to remind us of our failure as much as weneed someone to show us the way out of our predicament. We need grace, notguilt.

Your One Duty

God has given you but one simple responsibility: to believe in His promise. Youcan enjoy the blessing of a relationship with God even though you may not prayenough, or give enough, or sacrifice enough because of your faith in what Godhas already done for you.

God made Jesus to be sin for you that you might be made the righteousness ofGod through Him. Jesus imparts to you His righteousness when you simply placeyour faith and trust in the work He has done for you. His work is all of grace.

Paul opened his letter to the Galatians with the salutation, "Grace be to you." Heclosed it with, "Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.Amen." His benediction takes on a rich depth of meaning in light of the letter'ssharp focus on the glorious grace of God. The grace of Jesus, not the law ofMoses, was the Galatians' greatest need. To walk in the power of His Spirit, notin the vain efforts of the flesh, was their calling.

How did the Galatians respond? We are not told. Perhaps this is because thequestion raised in Galatia is always an open one. Will you rely on your ownrighteousness, or will you trust in God's gracious provision? Will you remain inthe simple message of salvation by grace through faith? Or will you add yourown list of righteous works to the finished work of Christ? Will you walk in theflesh or in the Spirit? Will you glory in the cross of Christ alone? Or will you seekthe approval and rewards of this world so that you may glory in your flesh?

These are issues that every believer in every generation eventually must wrestlewith. The answers you stand for will spell the difference between peace and fear,pride and true humility, even spiritual life and death.

May you stand without wavering for the grace of Jesus Christ. May you not bemoved by the deceptive desire to please men. May you be so heavenly mindedthat you are of the greatest earthly good, holding out the word of life in anincreasingly dark and hopeless world. And may you glory this day in what Jesushas done for you, and in that alone.